Why the Most Ill Suited Match is the Perfect One
by Peony-flower
Summary: Gintoki leaves Tsukuyo with an awful first impression. He is rude and arrogant, the type of man Tsukuyo hates the most and refuses to date. Kagura thinks otherwise. What will happen when Kagura decides to play cupid in the love lives of these two? AU
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back with a Gintoki and Tsukuyo fanfiction this time! I know I should be working on some other things but the material for this couple just would not stop rolling. This story is set in an AU, similar to the 3-Z Ginpachi-sensei universe but not quite. I won't reveal the whole story, I hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

She didn't want a man. Correction, she didn't need a man, and regardless of what others preached to her about the benefits of finding a worthy husband, Tsukuyo preferred her single lifestyle. Jane Austin and her anti-feminist ways be damned! No woman needed a husband to function and Tsukuyo continually worked to prove this point. She was an independent woman with a degree in law, a stable job, an above average income, and a quaint place to call her own. Years of hard work bore fruit to these accomplishments, and did she mention that this was done without a man's aid? Unbelievable right? Well according to her mother it was. Even if Tsukuyo pushed her nose to the stone more than humanly possible, her traditionalist mother would still refuse to accept the notion that her precious baby girl could both live and support herself alone. It was a ludicrous idea. And with every chance, Tsukuyo's dearest mother, without fail, would mention marriage in one way or another. Be it the " you're no longer a young flower anymore" conversation starter and ender, or the " I'm only looking out for your wellbeing" lecture, Tsukuyo, reluctantly, had heard them all. Now looking back on it, though, she much rather have her mother lecture her about the importance of a husband then her current predicament. At the very least Tsukuyo had the option of tuning out her mother's vexing voice. Not here though.

Tsukuyo frowned as she fidgeted in her kimono, the fabric foreign to her skin. So use to the comfort of her office clothes, she felt confined in the layers of silk. If Tsukuyo had a choice, she would have ripped those goddamn annoying layers away and thrown them in a furnace to burn. Extreme? Well yes it was a bit extreme to want to treat an innocent kimono in such a manner, but at the moment Tsukuyo's mind was occupied with other pressing matters, the biggest being the Omai she currently was forced to sit through.

* * *

The blonde impatiently tapped her fingers against the low lying table. Her partner was late, twenty minutes late to be exact, not that she was counting every second that is. Tsukuyo released a heavy sigh, how in the world did she get dragged into such an ill fortunate situation? An Omai of all things, she didn't even want to get married! But then the image of her mother appeared, _damn her and her meddlesome ways. _She cursed under her breath, if Tsukuyo did not love her mother half as much as she did, then this Omai would have never taken place. Her mother practically dropped to her knees and begged. How could she say no to that? And being the softhearted person that she was,Tsukuyo reluctantly agreed. Assuring her mother of her attendance and staying for the entire duration were two different things though and Tsukuyo was not waiting on a man who was twenty one minutes late and counting. What a great first impression this person was leaving, but at this point Tsukuyo actually wanted the person to be two hours late so that they would never met at all. How nice would it be if that could happen? But as that thought finished the tatami door quietly slide open and in entered a stoic looking, silver haired man.

" Sorry for being late, you know stuff happens." He said in an unapologetic voice. The man took his seat across from the blond and acted as if he wasn't just strolling in twenty two minutes later than the designated time. Tsukuyo's frown deepened. She, with great certainty, disliked this man. It was going to be a long hour and thirty eight minutes, staying any longer then the obliged time was out of the question for her.

* * *

The two Omai partners sat in silence, neither willing to be the first to break it. Tsukuyo studied the man's face. Handsome was a far fetch description of his lifeless face. While she held no specific qualms towards anything in particular, she did note that his eyes reminded her of dead fish. She knew that it was odd to compare the eyes of a human to those of a fish but the more she stared at the intolerable silver haired man, the greater the impression those dead fish eyes imprinted upon her.

"You know a picture lasts longer so you can stop staring at my beautiful face now."

Tsukuyo immediately turned a bright shade of red. Not only did he catch her staring, that was a given since she was not practicing any discrepancy, but he dared call her out on it. This man had no common sense, let alone any tact!

" I wasn't staring." She said with the steadiest voice she could muster. Normally she handled unpredictable situations well, that was the basis of her job anyway. A courtroom was a battleground, after all, she would not show any weakness there nor here. However, in front of this man, the iron façade she learned to build over the years, crumbled to the ground. It was because he was too unbelievable, that had to be the reason.

The silver haired man raised an eyebrow, " Whatever you say. The name is Gintoki, by the way, nice to meet you potential marriage partner."

Recovering herself the best she could, Tsukuyo wore her best poker face. " My name is Tsukuyo. And I want to let you know, off the bat, that I have no intentions of getting married. What so ever."

Gintoki stood up and flattened the wrinkles from his pants. " Well that's great, you made my life so much easier. And here I thought I would have to think of a way to gently break it to you that I am not interested. " He grabbed his coat from the ground." If you don't mind me, I have someplace to be. I am a busy man."

Tsukuyo stared at him with her mouth gaping, this man was a lunatic!

" What?! You made me wait 22 minutes only to tell me that I'm not your type?!"

He sighed, " I knew letting women down would be hard. Damn that Otose, I told her so."

Tsukuyo bolted up, " Now you listen here. It's ME that's not interested in YOU." She said pointing her finger at the surprised man. " And I am going to be leaving first, you can sit here and wait like you made me do, bastard!" She spat out angrily. She then stormed out the room. That man was infuriating, he caused her to become fuming mad. Who did he think he was? She was the one not interested in him, and he should have been grateful that he was even allowed to be graced by her presence. She stopped at the entrance of the Omai building and inhaled a deep breath. _Calm down_ she told herself, _you are never going to see the man again anyway_. Tsukuyo glanced backwards, not expecting anything in particular, but then she saw him in the window of their second floor room. Their eyes locked for a second. She scrunched her face in a scowl and stuck up her middle finger at the man, then she quickly turned away. Screw his pompous ass!

* * *

**Gintoki is quite a charmer isn't he? I hope you guys liked that first chapter. I don't plan for this to be too ridiculously and assuming that its a romance story you readers can predict how this may end, should I add a tragic plot twist? I'm kidding, or am I? I hope you guys enjoyed anyway!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am sorry if the first chapter of this story mislead a lot of you. The tone and flow of this chapter reflects the tone I will be using in subsequent chapters. Also, some of you readers asked what part Kagura would play, well you'll find out very soon. This chapter should both answer some confusing and hint at the path the story is going to flow. Enjoy! Also, I was just looking through this story and I just realized now that I had posted the wrong story by accident. WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS TELL ME! Well its mostly my fault for not catching the mistake until now, in lieu of this incident I promise that chapter 3 will be posted by at least tomorrow.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

A week quickly passed since Tsukuyo's first encounter with that deplorable man. The taste of his name on her tongue evoked nausea and the mere thought of his apathetic face caused her blood to boil. Her grip on the pencil she held tightened, causing it to snap. Tsukuyo watched as the remnants of the innocent pencil fell to the desk. She grabbed another pencil and began her never-ending load of paper work once more but her mind continued to wander. Tsukuyo continued to think of the words that the vile creature known as Gintoki spoke, and in turn she grew angrier and less focus. Productivity escaped her, her mind churned with thoughts of revenge and comebacks instead of the legal terms she needed to fill out the claim report. She needed a break, and a punching bag. There was some steam that Tsukuyo needed to let out, mainly in the form of pulverizing a 200 pound bag and imagining that it was a certain silver haired man. She grabbed her blazer hanging from the chair and left the office early. The secretaries gave her a courteous nod, but the surprise in their faces were still evident. Their workaholic boss never left early, she barely left at the normal time, everyday she did overtime, but today was different. The two secretaries exchanged glances between each other. Something happened and their intuition told them it was a man.

* * *

Gintoki let out a loud yawn as he reclined in his chair. He glanced around to see if any of the elder teachers were nearby, they would have scolded him for his unprofessional behavior. The lounge was empty except for himself, Gintoki grinned to himself, just the way he liked it. Gintoki lowered his head on the desk, the drowsiness of a long day lulling him to sleep. His eyelids felt heavy and with each passing second Gintoki felt the sleep coming upon him. His mind went blank for a moment but then his whole body shook with a force greater than a earthquake. He snapped his head upwards, mumbling "I'm awake sir, I'm awake, just closing my eyes for a bit was all."

He expected to hear the Vice Principle drone on about how he was violating some stupid made up rule but instead it was the voice of a young female.

"Gin-chan stop sleeping on the job! You're wasting everyone's taxes!"

Gintoki quickly lowered his head back to the desk, " Its only you Kagura." He said as the teenage girl continued to watch him with a pout. " And its Gintoki-sensei to you."

"Shut up Gin-chan, stop acting like you actually have authority, its not funny anymore." Gintoki turned his head to face her.

" I really should give you a detention for that mouth of your but…."

"You cant be bothered." She answered, " I know, you have to get home to your JUMP. Your never going to get married at this rate Gin-chan."

He scoffed, " I could say the same Kagura. Your stomach is endless, your tongue is too sharp and you're violent. No one likes violent women." He frowned to himself as the imagine of that blond woman popped into his head. Tsukuyo was it? Even with the briefness of their first meeting, he had a lasting impression of her in his mind- crazy and violent. That was the reason he remembered her name, what other reason could it be? He did not like violent women, they tended to emotional baggage-previously abusive relationships, mama issues, he could keep going. Gintoki barely tolerated normal women as it was, violent women overwhelmed him especially, but she seemed different.

" I should report you for harassing a student, but the great me will forgive you this once. And I'm at least young." She said smugly. He blinked, forcing his wandering thoughts to focus.

"Wait a couple of years, Kagura. Time catches up with you a lot faster than you would think. So why are you here bothering me anyway? It should be a study block for you."

She held out the flyer she previously hid behind her back. " I have a kendo match this Saturday, you promised to come to my first match, remember, REMEMBER?"

Gintoki shrunk back in his chair, he actually did not remember but he was also not in the mood to have to deal with Kagura's tantrum. " Of course I remember." He lied. " This Saturday? I'll be there, okay."

Kagura narrowed her eyes at him, " You better, Gin-chan. If you're not then I will be very upset and you know how that ended last time."

He remembered alright. His life at school had been hell for three straight weeks. Prank after prank he was the victim of, and Kagura questioned why he had no authority. It was all her fault! He sighed. " Yeah, I'll definitely be there, don't worry your pretty little head over it." She gave him a smiled before leaving the teacher's lounge. Gintoki had better things to do on a Saturday then attend a Kendo match, like reading JUMP and drinking strawberry milk, but he promised her and the only thing his worthless self was good for was a promise. How bad could it be? After all, it was just a simple kendo match, right?

* * *

It was suppose to be a nice, quiet Saturday afternoon. Tsukuyo promised the daughter of her colleague that she would attend her first Kendo match. She adored Kagura. Umibozu's daughter burst with energy and the spunk every female should have. Kagura spoke her mind without restraint and acted against the gender stereotypes set by society. She reminded Tsukuyo of her younger days. While she had been infinitely more rebellious, Kagura still reminded her of her own refusal to conform and act like the fragile doll men thought women were . Tsukuyo may hold a soft spot for Kagura, but at the moment she debated fleeing the scene like a wanted criminal. It was too late though, Kagura already noticed her and she hesitantly waved back. Damn her sense of moral obligation! It would be the death of her! She continued to stare at the wall in front of her, afraid to potentially make eye contact with the silver haired man sitting a few inches away. Picking this spot out of the hundreds of vacant seats in the gymnasium, she had some bad luck alright. Maybe he wouldn't remember her, they had only spoken for a course of five minutes anyway. There was still a chance of him not remembering the face of the woman who both swore and flipped him off. She face palmed herself, who was she kidding? She did stick up the middle finger at him after all, Tsukuyo should have displayed some restraint in those last few seconds of their…eventful encounter. As she continued mumbling a string of profanity under her breath, Gintoki nervously looked ahead. Who would have thought that he would encounter this violent woman again? Definitely not him. If he knew their paths would cross, then he would have avoided this event at all cost. Never before had he meet one of the Omai partners that he deliberately scared away. Most of them simply left upset and mostly frustrated that he wasted their time in their avid search of a marriage partner. It was all Otose's fault, the damn old lady needed to mind her own business. If he wanted a wife he could find one, it was just that he wanted to enjoy his bachelorhood while he still had some youth left in him. This obviously did not float well with Otose. She called it a bullshit excuse, which it kind of was, and set him on as many Omais as she could. But he had the last laugh in the end. Gintoki deliberately came late to every one of them and acted like an even bigger inconsiderate jerk then he was. By exaggerating his natural personality a bit, he scared all the ladies off, and while this should not have been a thing to relic in, Gintoki was happy they left. This woman was different. She was the first to blow her top on him, and Gintoki felt scared for his manhood in those brief minutes. Her murderous intent oozed from every pore, perhaps he had gone too far this time. That was why when she stormed out, he peaked outside the window to casually check up on her. He would have never guess that she would flip him off before stomping away. In a state of both fear and fascination, Gintoki promised he would both never forget the woman or see her again. Well that was his luck for him since she sat inches away. He prayed to himself, just in case she still wanted to kill him, just in case.

* * *

The Kendo match proceeded rather uneventfully. Kagura dominated all her opponents, as expected of a girl who has the strength of ten men. But then the match entered the finals and the opponent Kagura was itching to fight finally appeared, her self-proclaimed rival, Okita Sougo. They both fought splendidly. The audience stunned into silence by the tension of the match. One moment it swayed for Kagura's win while the other Okita showed his upper hand. Kagura clearly possessed the strength to bulldoze her path to victory, but ultimately the years of Kendo skill displayed by Okita won the match. Kagura reluctantly shook the victor's hand even though all she wanted to do was beat the smug look off his face. She stormed away, furious at her own incapability.

Kagura automatically ran into the embrace of her favorite Tsukuyo nee-chan, also commonly referred to as Tsukky by her. The blonde did her best to console the youth. Losing was a bitter thing after all.

"You did great, Kagura." She said as gently as she could.

"Well apparently not good enough to win." Came a familiar male voice. Her face quickly turned into a scowl.

"Can't you see the poor girl is devastated?! Allow her to a least heal the wounds of lost before cutting in with your inconsiderate remarks." She spat back at him.

" Have you never heard that once you fall you have to pick yourself right back up to get stronger? Kagura doesn't need the pity so stop acting all high and mighty." He retorted on tempo.

" I'm acting all high and mighty? Don't you throw that hypocrisy at me. Why don't you stop acting like a bigot and realize that rubbing salt on the wound does not make the situation better." She said, pointing her index finger at the man.

"Ohh, are we using big words now to prove a point. And like I said, this will help Kagura in the long run."

"Clearly my vocabulary is vastly superior to that of an imbecile such as yourself."

"Are you calling me stupid? " he said clearly offended.

" I will leave that up to interruption." She smugly said.

" Why you violent woman!" Gintoki shouted, " this is why no one wants to marry you."

"You're not the charmer you think you are either, bud. Don't call the kettle black before looking in the mirror."

" At least I don't flip off people I've met for the first time!"

"And at least I don't come twenty minutes late to a meeting!"

"Because no one wants to meet with a violent woman like you!" he stated matter of factly.

Tsukuyo's face grew red with anger, " Being a violent woman is better than being a tactless neanderthal. And don't think that unnaturally permy silver hairlooks good either."

Gintoki gasped, " Apologize to all the naturally silver permed men of the world!"

"Make me." she said,mouthing each word distinctly.

"Ummm, Tsukky." Called Kagura's voice. Both adults completely forgot the whole reason for their argument until they saw Kagura. " People are staring." And she was right, most of the people who had yet to leave were intently staring at the bickering pair. They anticipated a punch or two to be thrown but as both Gintoki and Tsukuyo glared down anyone who dared to continue watching, the crowd dissipated.

" Do you know each other?" Kagura asked, they must know each other or else they would not be at each others necks like cats and dogs.

"Not at all, Kagura. I do not associate myself with lesser beings such as this, thing," gesturing to Gintoki," before us." Kagura stared at Tsukuyo shocked, she had never heard this much malice come from her favorite nee-chan before.

" And I also do not associate myself with emotionally volatile women, they belong in a psychiatric ward." Kagura also stared at Gintoki in shocked. Even with her constant three weeks of pranks Gintoki had been peevish at most. But here, with Tsukuyo, he bore fangs she did not know existed. Seriously, what was up with these two?

"Ok then…." She answered, even more confused then before.

"Come on Kagura, I'll take you home." Said Tsukuyo.

" No Kagura, come with me, I'll treat you to lunch."

The teenager's eyes widen,"Really now?! Wow Gin-chan, that's so unlike you, is the sun rising in the west today?"

"If you don't want to then that's fine by me, Kagura. Your Gin-chan just wanted to do something nice for you."

"Pedophile." Whispered Tsukuyo loudly enough for him to hear.

Gintoki was about to retort but Kagura cut him off.

"Well if Gin-chan is offering then I'll definitely go. Can Tsukky nee-chan come too? Please? Pretty Please Gin-chan?"

"Ho, so you're Tsukky neechan, how darling." He said with a dastardly grin.

" It's Hyakka-san for you. And Kagura, I can buy you lunch, you need not accompany this lecherous man."

"Lecherous? Woah hold it there lady..." but he also was cut off by Kagura.

" But Tsukky-nee! If I don't take this golden opportunity now it will never happen again! I'll also be able to tell the others that stingy Sakata-sensei actually treated me to food! It'll be the talk of the school."

Tsukuyo raised a brow, " I never knew you were that kind of person, Sakata-sensei. The more I learn about you the more you fit the image I created, a good for nothing, lazy, bum."

" Those are some harsh words miss-holier-than-thou. Then enlighten me, what do you do?"

"She an attorney at the D.A's office, Gin-chan!"

Gintoki's face slumped in surprise but he quickly recomposed himself, " Damn you violent woman,you won this round."

The blonde smugly looked at him. She was a lawyer while he was a teacher, it oddly pleased her that her career was far greater than his. These little things in life really make a difference at a time like this.

Kagura looked from one adult to the other,"Your being weird again, Gin-chan. So can Tsukky-nee come or not?"

"Fine, the generous Gin-chan shall treat your friend here as well. From the goodness of my bottomless heart, of course."

Tsukuyo cringed, " I'll take a rain check, Kagura." But Kagura then gazed upon the blond with such pleading eyes. Oh this soft spot for Kagura would also be the death of her, " Fine." She said at last. " I'll go, but only because you wanted me to, Kagura."

Gintoki scoffed and stared at her with his dead fish eyes, " Tsundere."

Kagura sighed as the two adults engaged in another argument. These two were the polar opposites of one another but Kagura saw a tiny spark between the two. She smiled deviously; this spark would become a passionately burning flame. She needed to remember to call Soyo and tell her about operation Get them Hitched. This was going to be a busy year for the match maker Kagura.

* * *

**Well then, that was that. I hope this chapter was not a total disaster. The dialogue got out of control very quickly but I feel that is true Gintama style. Anyways, I hoped that answered some questions and that you will stay tune for the next chapter. Just a heads up, this series will be very fast paced, in lack of better words, shit is gonna go down soon, or in at least a chapter or two soon. I hope you guys enjoyed anyway and thank you for the reviews and favorites, its these little things in life that make my day :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I promised chapter 3 so here it is! No long rant this time, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

"They are perfect for each other." Kagura said as she turned her chair around to face Soyo. The heiress stopped her writing and looked up from her textbook.

"Are you talking about Gintoki-sensei?" she asked. Kagura often bombarded her with gossip from throughout the school and even with her intelligence Soyo found it difficult to keep track of every detail. " Something involving your lawyer neechan, Tsukuyo-san, right?"

"Bingo!" her friend answered, " It was a match made in heaven! They are fated to be, they simply don't know it yet!"

Soyo put down her pencil and knowingly looked at Kagura, " So, what are you scheming then?"

"Scheming? Moi?" she said, feigning a hurt expression, " I would never devise a plan to set the two up or anything. And it would never in a second date that leads to love. No, I am not scheming anything, Soyo. I just want to be their cupid, is that so hard to believe?"

"Should I answer that truthfully?" She joked, earning her a light punch on the arm. Soyo laughed. " Remember when you tried playing cupid for your brother and Nobume-chan? It still makes mw chuckle whenever the image of Kamui fleeing Nobume-chan's wrath appears. You did some fine work that day, cupid."

"Hey! They ended up together anyway! If it wasn't for my push then neither of them would have admitted to liking one another. Heck, Kamui-nii didn't even know he was in the friendzone until I basically told him!"

" True enough." Soyo agreed, " but you didn't have to lie to Nobume and tell her that Kamui completely cast her aside for Abuto. I am actually more surprised that Nobume believed such a blatant lie."

" They had a bromance that no one could deny, okay. Abuto is the perfect wifou, I would marry the man. It's like having a maid and cook combined into one, what could you hate about that?"

" My deepest condolences to your future husband, China. He is going to have it rough with a lazy and gluttonous wife like you." Said a voice from the hallway. The girls in the class flocked to the window dividing the hallway from the room. Crowding around their prince, the teenage girls cried praises to the bishounen idol. Kagura turned away scowling. Unlike the other girls who fawned over Okita Sougo, the athletic and handsome 2rd year of Kabuchou High, Kagura hated his guts. The holier being, in the eyes of the female population, blessed the ground he stood on with his presence. Kagura sacrilegiously spat on that supposedly blessed ground. She could not tolerate the arrogantly narcissistic ones the most.

" Did you hear a ghost, Soyo? I could have sworn I heard a shrilled pubescent male voice."

" Losing still has you bitter, huh. I didn't think you would be such a sore loser, but what else should I have expected from a brute like you?"

Kagura spun around in her chair, now facing the school idol. " Those are fight words right there." She said as she leered at him.

" I was never on to back down from a fight anyway, China. Come at me."

She jumped out of her seat and pointed her finger at the infuriating man, " You asked for it! Don't go complaining to me when all your ribs are broken!"

The Okita fan club members menacingly glared at her. How dare this girl threaten their lovely Okita-san? But Kagura had an infamous reputation at the school. Besides the well known fact of Gintoki-sensei being a lazy bum, it was also widely known that Kagura's combat strength was unparalleled.

" Well hurry up China, or are you all bark and no bite?" Okita said with a smirk.

"You sadist! I'll wipe that smirk off your face once and for all!"

Soyo rolled her eyes as she passively watched the whole ordeal unfold. Kagura harped about playing cupid for other couples and yet she could not admit her own feelings. It was obvious, to Soyo and their close acquantiances anyway, that Okita clearly favored the younger Yato sister. And how much more obvious was it that he went out of his way to visit the secluded 2-F classroom everyday just to see Kagura. Soyo sighed, maybe instead of focusing on Gintoki-sensei's relationship she should focus on her own budding romance. Speak of the devil though. Soyo saw the familiar permy silver hair coming down the hallway.

" Oiii, Kagura! I don't know what commotion you're making but stop it this instant!"

" But I haven't done anything, Gin-chan. It's the sadist who is provoking me!" she said with a pout.

Gintoki banged his books on her head, " I don't want to hear any excuses. Quickly apologize to Souichouro-kun so that we can get the lesson started."

"It's Sougo, Danna."

"And its Gintoki-sensei, Souichoro. Now get moving back to your own class before I give you detention, same applies to you, Kagura."

"You're still angry from this weekend, aren't you? Stop acting like you didn't enjoy the lunch with Tsukky-nee though, Gin-chan."

"It's Gintoki-sensei to you! And of course I did not enjoy sharing a meal with that violent woman. I was scared she might castrate me at any moment."

Kagura turned her head to the left, " Whatever you say Gin-chan. And Tsukky-nee said she was thankful too."

" I thought your old man taught you not to lie. The violent woman does not know the meaning of the word thankful."

" She said she'll treat you to dinner next time, too. But I guess that won't happen anymore. She would have taken you to a super fancy restaurant too, the D.A's office has a lot of connection."

"Oii, hold on a second. This is obviously a lie, right? The violent woman wouldn't offer to repay me by taking out to dinner, would she?"

"Tsukky-nee said she would."

Soyo watched as Kagura continued acting out her part. She had to admit, Kagura was a good actress. Gintoki believed her for now and somehow Kagura would deceive Tsukuyo-san into attending this dinner. Although angelic looking, Kagura was incredibly cunning and almost manipulative, the girl got results when she wanted them. Now Soyo could only guess if this operation Get them Hitch of Kagura's would end disastrously or with matrimony. Time would tell.

* * *

Tsukuyo impatiently tapped her black Christian Louboutin heels on the marble flooring. She glanced at her watch for the third time. How long did it take for one stupid elevator to arrive? Already five minutes late, Tsukuyo frantically thought of an excuse. She let out an exasperated sigh, the elevator finally arrived. She pressed the button for the 45th floor, the top floor of this building and the location of her "date".

* * *

Tsukuyo quickly exited the elevator and headed for the reception. " I have a reservation for two, it should be under Hyakka." The brunette scanned her list.

She gestured to the left, " The other has already arrived, it's the table at the corner." she said jovially.  
"Thank you." Tsukuyo answered with a nod. The aromas of gourmet food and aged wine engulfed her immediately. Surely her date was anticipating the meal already.

_Table at the corner_, she repeated to herself. Tsukuyo only saw one table at the end of the corner but a silver haired man was sitting there in place of a vermillion haired girl. _No, it couldn't be him, right? _As she closed her distance, Tsukuyo's becoming increasingly certain that this silver haired man intruding at her table was the silver haired, good for nothing, lazy bum of a teacher Gintoki. She walked to her seat and turned around to be greeted by those dead fish eyes.

The blonde sighed, " Why are you here, bum? And where's Kagura? We promised to meet at 7."

"Don't know where she is, probably at home playing her Otome games." He said while nibbling a breadstick, " And I'm here to eat obviously. Want some?" Gintoki said, lifting up the basket of garlic seasoned breadsticks to her. " They're delish."

"I don't want any bread sticks, okay? I just want to know why you're here and not Kagura?"

Gintoki shrugged, " Kagura said to come so I did. The girl probably got into her head the idea of use dating so now she's trying to play cupid. Same thing happened last year with her brother and some girl from the same class. Kagura spent a solid month trying to set them up. It was hilarious …" Tsukuyo glared at him menacingly. His grin immediately disappeared,"…or not. At least sit down, you're giving me anxiety."

Tsukuyo sighed for the hundredth time that day, " Fine." She said in defeat. The waiter promptly came over to fill her glass, asking her if she was ready to order. Passively she agreed to anything the waiter suggested. "So basically your saying that Kagura isn't coming and that this was one of her ploys to somehow get us together?" said Tsukuyo after curtly nodding to the waiter.

Gintoki swirled the wine in his glass and nibbled on the breadsticks. " Yup." He nonchalantly answered.

Tsukuyo picked up her own half fill glass and chugged the tarty liquid until every drop was gone. She signaled for the nearby waiter to refill her glass.

"Drinking that much wine before the main course comes out will only ruin your taste buds, violent woman." Gintoki said as he watched her down the thick red liquid at a monstrous speed.

"Let them be ruined, my day has already been ruined anyway."

"Bad day? Wanna talk about it?" he asked, arms on the table and his chin resting on his folded hands.

Tsukuyo ravenously began eating her salad, " I can't even begin to explain. First my client abruptly withdrew his case from my care because he thought I did not seem capable enough and then my mother calls with another Omai meeting. Your appearance is just the icing on top, isn't it? Why did you come anyway? You knew Kagura deliberately asked us both to dinner under the pretense that she would be here and yet you still came."

He shrugged. " She said you would be paying and I never turn down a free meal, especially one at a high end joint like this. I mean look at this place." He gestured to the window view, " Is that Shibuya crossing I see? How much does a table like this go anyway? Scratch that, I don't want to know, my meagerly teacher's paycheck would never be able to afford this."

Tsukuyo sighed, " Somehow I expected no less from you. I'm not even angry, I'm too tired for that. And FYI, the D.A's office is paying for this. They like to give us these types of reservations as bonuses; I just never got to using mine. There wasn't a reason to until Kagura asked that is."

"Only for it to be me instead." Gintoki said with a grin.

"Yeah, lucky me." She grimly said. Tsukuyo held up her glass for more wine. The alcohol here was good, why waste the opportunity? Tonight she intended to drink her money's worth of vintage wine, the bill went to the office anyway.

"Look on the bright side. You can at least tell your friends that you went on a date with a dashingly handsome man. It will make all the ladies at the office jealous."

" You're quite the charmer aren't you, Gintoki? If I wasn't half as tired or half as intoxicated, I would slap that smug look off your face. Consider yourself lucky that I cannot physically maim you in my condition. Let us be civil. I just want eat our food and go home."

" Still violent as always." He said, the grin still on his face. Tsukuyo was about to retort but Gintoki pointed to the approaching waiter.

"Looks like your wish is about to come true, the main course is here. And looky there, more wine, your favorite."

Tsukuyo graciously accepted the waiters offer for a refill. This night would be unbearable if not for the constant supply of wine. Tsukuyo would contemplate the severity of her decisions later, right now she wanted to drink and eat, preferably not in the presence of this loathsome man but she would make due.

Gintoki enjoyed his luxurious meal in silence. Everything in the restaurant was over the top, including himself. He wore a nicely ironed suit, gray tie and leather dress shoes. He did not even dress this formally for work. During school he wore a simple dress shirt, beige khakis and whatever shoes he could find, but Kagura warned him beforehand that his usual attire would not suffice in such a restaurant. Quickly scanning the room before he was seated, Gintoki internally thanked Kagura for her advice. And here he had been debating whether a free meal was worth the hassle of dealing with the violent woman, one glance at the restaurant and Gintoki could not provide himself for a reason against it. As the night progress though, the list of reasons why he should have refused this dinner date exponentially grew. Setting aside the trivial details such as how he thought the waiters were a bit arrogant, the main reason why he should have just stayed home and read jump was the fully intoxicated woman before him. How many glasses of wine did she exactly drink? 6?7? He lost count after the waiter grew tired of continually filling her glass and instead set the entire bottle on the table, it was a big bottle.

As Tsukuyo reached her shaky hands to refill her glass, another hand intercepted the bottle from her reach. Groggily she looked up to see the rude man she met at the Omai. "Why are you here?!" she half shouted, " I thought I made it clear that I hated your face!" she slurred out. He did not say a word, instead, he beckoned for the waiter to bring the check and take the accursed bottle away from the drunk-out-of her mind woman. Tsukuyo incoherently grumbled about how Gintoki had no right to take away the alcohol, all of which the perm haired man ignored. In his moment of distraction Gintoki did not see Tsukuyo dive for his glass until he heard her chugging the remaining wine. And then she went out like a light, direct face to table contact. Gintoki rubbed his aching temple, he definitely should have just stayed home and read JUMP.

* * *

**It won't take a rocket scientist to guess what happens next, right? Right? And to those with a dirty mind, your completely wrong. Stay tune for how things will progress from this point.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back! And this time you guys only had to wait a week. Anyways, this story is moving right along. Here's chapter 4, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

She felt groggy, as if the world tilted 70 degrees to the side. And besides the pounding pain in the side of her head, Tsukuyo's senses distinguished nothing else. Placing her hands down to level herself and regain balance, her fingers skimed across the silkiness of fabric. A down comfort to be exact. Her tightly shut eyes shot open, a headache ensured as her eyes adjusted to the light filtering in from the window blinds. Wait a second, she adorned her windows with thick wool curtains, not horizontal wooden blinds. Tsukuyo sat herself fully upright. Preserving through the pain of her headache, she slowly glanced around the room. Barren white walls greeted her, the room was sparsely decorated except for the small desk in the corner with its stack of books that reached the ceiling. The longer she stared at these books the quicker Tsukuyo realized that they were not in fact books. Before her stood dozens upon dozens of volumes of JUMP manga. The pieces of the puzzle gradually came together and she sighed at the realization. It did not take the lawyer in her to guess that this room belonged to the hateful man named Gintoki. She slouched in the bed, condemning herself for an unclear reason, but nonetheless hating herself even more. Tsukuyo tried retracing her steps, the same as when she reviews her cases. She stilled remembered a majority of last night. Kagura had invited her to dinner but she regretfully found Gintoki waiting for her at the restaurant instead. Tskuyo slouched down even farther in the bed, allowing the covers to completely hide her body. And there was wine, a lot of wine. She remembered everything up until the 4th cup, everything afterwards was a blur. Well then, Tsukuyo was going to be hating herself for a long time. However, by the looks of things, she was fully dressed, although in a foreign tee shirt and a pair of female shorts. Two questions immediately popped in her mind. One, how did she get dressed? Hopefully a drunk Tskuyo still at least had the motor abilities to dress herself. And two, why would Gintoki conveniently have a pair of spare female shorts? And the tee shirt as fit as if it was designed for a female. It did not quite add up. Tsukuyo lifted the covers and planted her bare feet on the cold wood flooring. Gintoki needed to invest in a carpet. With light steps Tsukuyo made her way to the door and creaked it open, every few steps she leaned against the wall for support. The hangover only continued to reinforce the severity of her predicament. She heard bustling further down the hall, a soft cling of metal against metal and the sound of sizzling . She still proceeded with caution down the short hallway. As she reached what appeared to be a living room-kitchen mix, Tsukuyo dreadfully saw the owner of the house. She wanted to escape, to run back to the barren room with the JUMP manga, but he already made eye contact with her. Fuck, she was stuck.

" I see you managed to not drink yourself in a coma." He casually said while flipping what indeed was eggs. She frowned.

"I graciously thank you for the concern. Now a piece of advice from me." She pointed to his topless body, " maybe put on a shirt or you're going to get splattered by the oil."

The permy haired man shrugged, " I don't really care. And goodness woman, telling a man what to do even in his own home."

She blushed in embarrassment. She desperately clang to the meager shred of dignity she had lift but that proved difficult in her current predicament. She was in shorts and a tee-shirt and nursing a pounding hangover all in the home of a man she met less than a month ago. Yup, there went that remaining dignity. She mumbled a barely audible "sorry" to the perm haired man. Gintoki smugly smiled, he heard her loud and clear.

Tsukuyo mustered a bit of courage and asked the question of the day. " So Gintoki," she started out slowly, "did anything happen last night? Like between us?" she asked with such shame that it made her stomach churn with disgust. The man deviously grinned.

"Well, well. Don't you have a very dirty mind." He joked. " Fret not young knave, I am a man of virtuous pride. Besides, you're not my type, sorry."

Tsukuyo wasn't even mad at his comment. She let out a sigh of relief, their relationship was complicated enough. She answered him with a soft "oh." He grinned again.

"Seeing as I am such a gracious man, I will bless you with my delicious cooking." Tsukuyo did not even attempt to make a retort, she passively stood there and nodded her head. " And while you're at it," he said, " Go knock on the first door in the hallway and wake up the girls. They must be starving by now, especially that one, her monstrous appetite will be the death of me."

"The girls?" Tsukuyo asked. And here she thought Gintoki passed as a decent human being, apparently not. Housing multiple females in the fairly small apartment caused Tsukuyo's opinion of him to worsen once again. What a lecherous man.

" Before you get any funny ideas, rude woman, the two girls are Kagura and her friend Soyo."

Kagura and her highschool friend? He was definitely a lecherous man. As if reading her mind, Gintoki quickly continued his sentence. " I called Kagura over last night because I knew you would flip out if it was only the two of us in my house. You would probably sue me and throw some fancy legal terms in my face." Well, he wasn't wrong. " But I didn't know where you lived and it was already late at night so I did the next best thing, I had Kagura crash over as a witness to my innocence. And because I felt that maybe inviting one student to my house could backfire on me, I had Kagura call her friend too. It's like a big party at Gintoki-sensei's house now!" he said with false enthusiasms, " Obviously Kagura was more than happy to come over and that basically leads us to where we are currently, me cooking eggs and you watching me cook eggs. Any questions?"

" Well then, that was a lot to take in." Tsukuyo said, still processing and rationalizing Gintoki's decision. It could have been worse. It was here fault for getting drunk and at she now knew that nothing had transpired last night. She rubbed her aching forehead, " Okay, I guess I'll go wake the girls then."

"You go do that." He said and then resumed his egg making.

* * *

By the time Tsukuyo bought both girls to the dinning room Gintoki had thankful put on a shirt. He even poured her a glass of water while the two girls were handed orange juice, he was more courteous than she initially gave him credit for. Kagura did not ask any questions at breakfast, neither did her friend Soyo. They acted as if this was a common occurrence. Sleeping over at their teacher's house and then enjoying a breakfast cooked by the said teacher did not faze them in the slightest. The inner workings of a high school girl's mind were beyond Tsukuyo's comprehension. Kagura babbled on about how much she loathed the homework for her math class, at which point Gintoki interrupted and called her lazy. Kagura then proceeded to arguing with Gintoki, while this transpired Soyo calmly watched from the sidelines. This felt way too normal.

Tsukuyo turned her head to face Soyo, " Am I missing something here?"

The raven haired girl smiled, " Not in the least. Kagura and Gintoki-sensei are always like this."

"No,no,no." she said waving her hand, " what I mean is this whole situation?"

"Situation?" said repeated confused.

"Yes. Two female students staying over at their male teacher's house can be interrupted very ambiguously."

Soyo smiled again, " Well then we just have to make sure no one else finds out. Besides, Gintoki-sensei only invited us over to make you feel more comfortable, Tsukuyo-san."

"More comfortable?"

She nodded her head, " Yes, Gintoki-sensei knew you would react very negatively to waking up in his apartment after a night out with each another. You logically would jump to the conclusion that he may or may not have committed a indecent act, however, with us here, we acted as a buffer." She pointed to Gintoki, " Although he looks like the inconsiderate type, Gintoki-sensei does really care. He's really not a bad guy at all Tsukuyo-san, if you give him a chance I can guarantee that a diamond is underneath all that dirt."

Astonished, Tsukuyo silently stared at Soyo. This was wisdom beyond her age. And Tsukuyo let two main pieces of information sink. Number 1, perhaps her initial impression of Gintoki was too hasty. She deemed him to be lazy, worthless, basically a pathetic excuse for a man, but those are incredibly critical words that she possessed no evidence to support. Tsukuyo bit her lip, lawyers should act more on reason and less on emotions. Second, it occurred to Tsukuyo that everyone ( just Kagura, Soyo, and here mother) were trying to set her up with Gintoki. Did he even know of their true intentions? Or was he playing dumb? That seemed to be the case rather often. As of right now Tsukuyo was only certain of one thing, her uncertainty in the feelings she had towards Gintoki. Ughhh, exactly for this reason did Tsukuyo avoid romance and men like the plague.

"I have to get back for my 9am practice soon." She suddenly heard Kagura say.

"Oh, then you better hurry. It is already 8:30." she heard Soyo reply.

Tsukuyo bolted upwards, she had a meeting with the assistant district attorney at 9!How had she forgotten?!

"I gotta go!" she said, "Meeting.9. I'm going to be late!"

She quickly ran back to Gintoki's room and changed into her cocktail dress from the night before. She could deal with her hair while in the cab and as for makeup….. the assistant district attorney has seen worse. Grabbing her coat and clutch, she fumbled to the door.

"Gintoki! Where are my heels?!" Tsukuyo shouted from the hallway.

"The shoe cabinet to the left, first one!" he shouted back.

"Thanks!" and with that she bolted out of the apartment.

Kagura slyly looked at the perm haired man. " You guys are basically married."

He rolled his eyes, " Give me a break. This is all your fault you little instigator. How are you going to make it up to your Gin-chan now Kagura? Huh? The rude woman probably thinks I'm a pedophile for housing two of my students in my house. My reputation!" he cried while holding his head." It's gone!"

This time Kagura rolled her eyes, " Don't worry about it Gin-chan, you never had a reputation in the first place. Besides, you'll be thanking me at the altar. You're welcome, Gin-chan."

Kagura's words caused him more anxiety than relief. " Soyo! Help a poor man out!"

Soyo giggled, " Don't worry Gintoki-sensei, I will vouch for your reputation if anything happens." He let out a sigh of relief. " Also, I promise to bring a great wedding gift with me, Gintoki-sensei."

"Not you too, Soyo! Come on! Me and that rude woman are not getting married! If I had to marry anyone it would be Ana Ketsuno, the lovely weather lady from channel 7."

"Never say never Gin-chan, you would be surprised how the world works sometimes." Kagura replied quietly to herself. Soyo gave her nod of approval though. The gears of fate had already been set in motion.

* * *

Tsukuyo pushed the glass door open. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and hot-out-of-the-oven bread engulfed her. She could really use a cup of coffee right now, the stronger the better. With a quick scan around the small shop, Tsukuyo easily located the woman she was looking for, she hurried on over, it was already 9:05.

"Sorry I'm late Amano-san. A series of unforeseen circumstances came up."

A women around the age of 45 and wearing a perfectly pressed blazer and dress pants looked up, she raised a brow. " I can tell. Did I miss the dress code memo? Little black dress and heels at 9am? I would say that either your sense of fashion become more daring or you had a crazy night."

Tsukuyo flushed pink, "Like I said, unforeseen circumstances."

The assistant district attorney chuckled, " It's not my place to pry, you are a grown woman after all." She pointed to the manila folders on the table. "I have a new case for you, and this time I made sure that it doesn't involve a sexist politician."

"Thank you." The fatigues blonde said. " After the night I had I cannot wait to immerse myself in work once again."

" If what I am thinking is correct then I would avoid your mother like the plague." Amano-san said as she opened one of the many folders. "She would have a field day if she found out."

The mere thought of her mother finding out caused her to shiver. Tsukuyo's mother would never discover of this incident, not over her dead body!

* * *

**First off I apologize for potentially getting any facts wrong. I actually have very limited knowledge on what a district attorney or the people in the D.A's office even do, I'm a biology major for a reason. Regardless though, I will try to further educated myself in the ways of lawyers. Also, I want to apologize for the inconsistency in language. I am conflicted on how I should write Tsukuyo's dialogue, she is suppose to be a very intelligent woman,however, I feel that her profession does not subject her to being articulate every waking moment of her life, I think. I will try my best to improve so please bare with me for the moment being. I hope you guys enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I back ! It hasn't been that long, right? My apologizes either way! No long spiel this time, just enjoy the chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

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The days passed by in a blur for Tsukuyo. In the mornings she would first brewed herself a strong cup of black coffee, cream and sugar diluted the potency in her opinion, chugged it down while still in her pajamas and then prepared a cup to take to work with her. Work, it was both the joy and blithe of her existence. She loved her job, she really did. However, with the good came the bad. While Tsukuyo lived for the thrill of a courtroom battle, the satisfaction of erasing the smug grins off the chauvinistic defense attorneys faces brought her great gratification, the never ending load of mundane paperwork killed her. The newest case assigned to her was thick to say the least, 15 volumes of information thick, to be exact. For the past few days Tsukuyo has been consumed by the overwhelming amount of case files, legal documents, and references she needed to review. It hurt her brain to stare any longer at law terms, five days, twelve hours straight, of convoluted language disrupts a person's sanity. It was unimaginable the amount of needlessly big words she came across. On the sixth day of this endless madness, Tsukuyo's mother called at about noon, or what appeared to be noon, by that point her sense of time was completely out of tune. Normally Tsukuyo picked up her phone and hastily turned it over, pretending as if she never saw the flashing of her mother's name across the screen. Today was different, even the distraction of her suffocating mother seemed a better alternative than returning to the stack of unopened manila folders on her desk. When her mother invited her to lunch at a Ramen shop they frequently visited, she decided to accept instead of making a excuse..

* * *

The small shop bustled with an assortment of sounds. The dishes clinging behind the counter, the shouting of orders, the boisterous laughter of relaxing men, it was chaotic in a lulling way. Tsukuyo slumped in her booth seat, the fatigue of the week finally wrecking its toll. Her mother eyed her curiously from across the table.

"Tsukuyo." She said in her clear, authoritative matriarch voice. " It is bad manner for a grown woman to be slouching in public." The blonde grunted as she straightened her posture. Her mother strictly adhered to her traditionalist ideals and therefore by default she believed that Tsukuyo should behave the same.

"Yes, mother. How dare I forget my manners." She mumbled.

"The sarcasm is also not warranted." She ran a hand through her graying hair. " Can we not have a peaceful mother daughter lunch without any bickering?"

Tsukuyo wanted to burst into laughter. Peace? What a preposterous notion. Peace was non-existent when the concept of her being involve in a relationship appeared to be more important than any other aspect of her life. But the topic was imminent, like a dormant volcano waiting for the prime chance to erupt and wreck havoc as any volcano does. Tsukuyo gently tapped her fingers on the table in anticipation, last time it had taken her mother approximately 2 minutes after greeting her to ask the question of the day. Currently 3 minutes had transpired. Tsukuyo kept her guard up, she could feel it coming.

" So," her mother began. Tsukuyo immediately got up.

"Bathroom run, mother" And before the older woman could say another word her daughter was on other side of the room. Avoid the topic like the plague and perhaps it would naturally disappear, that was the philosophy she currently abided by.

She lingered in the bathroom, buying as much time as she could. Glancing at her watch Tsukuyo regretful forced herself to leave. The door to the bathroom swung opened, from her peripheral vision she caught the distinct sight of silver hair. _Shit_. Perhaps she jumped the gun, Tokyo was a big city, there must be more than one silver perm haired man. Maybe? Hopefully? She closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the potential truth, this seriously could not be happening right now. Please, please do not let both Gintoki and her mother be in the same room, please! When she finally opened her eyes Gintoki was staring right at her. Tsukuyo frowned, the world hated her.

"If you're tired, rude women, then you should go home and sleep. Classy as usual."

She sighed, " Why hello there Gintoki, it's nice seeing you as usually." She said dryly.

"Well look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. You should be nicer to your savior." He said with a big grin, " wanna sit with me?" he asked while pointing to the counter seat next to him.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm actually here with someone."

"Do you mean her?" He asked, pointing to the all too familiar female approaching them. She wanted to bang her head on the counter until this nightmare ended. That woman and her damn senses! A multitude of escape tactics ran through her mind, if she bolted for the door now her aging mother would not be able to catch up. How tempting that plan was, just one sprint and she would be home free but it was too late. Her mother stood before her not with an angry face but one of sheer ecstasy.

" Tsukuyo! Who is this gentlemen you are conversing with? You two seem rather familiar with one another." Tsukuyo rolled her eyes. Her mother was the epitome of desperate for grandchildren. She would pair her with any man that had a Y chromosome at this point, that is how low her standards had dropped during this period of desperation.

"He's an acquaintance, someone who I just happened to have met on a couple occasions, mother, nothing more nothing less."

Gintoki raised a brow but decided to keep quiet. _Women_. He thought to himself.

"Is that so? The level of familiarity you two display appears to be greater than simple acquaintances." Curse her mother and her prying ways.

"We really are only acquaintances, ma'am." Replied Gintoki passively.

Tsukuyo's mother's face dropped, " Oh. Goodness, forgive me for jumping to conclusions. And where are my manners! My name is Hakka Reiko, Tsukuyo's mother if you had not already guessed."

"Sakata Gintoki, an acquaintance of Tsukuyo." He replied, trying to play along with whatever act the rude woman was performing.

"Sakata Gintoki." She said. "What a familiar name. Have we met before?"

" I don't believe so, ma'am."

"That's enough, mother." Tsukuyo said as she began to push the women away." His food just arrived, allow the man to eat in peace. And look." She said pointing to their table, " Our food is also ready, hurry and eat it before it gets cold."

" There is no needed to rush me, Tsukuyo. And I do not understand why we cannot join Gintoki-chan up here, there are plenty of free seats."

Tsukuyo looked mortified, " He must want to eat in peace, mother! How rude would it be for us to disturb his peace?!"

Reiko completely disregarded her daughter's plea, " Would it be a bother to you Gintoki-chan if we join you? You surely would not mind the company of an old woman who simply wants to engage in small talk, right?"

Gintoki nervously looked at Tsukuyo who kept mouthing No. He looked back to the eager face of her mother, then back to the displeased face of the daughter. " I guess it's alright….." he said after much internal debate, this was a losing battle either way.

"Wonderful! I'll move the food right over here!"

"How could you do this to me?!" she whispered as her mother walked away.

"She has a very strong personality, just like someone I know. There was a very intimating aura coming from here, I was picking of the lesser evils okay!"

"Gintoki!" she hissed. " Grow some balls! And you call yourself a man when you're afraid of a 55 year old house wife."

"Don't give me that look! I was really afraid! Did you see that smile?! Tell me how a human being can smile so eerily like that, she's could eat me up for breakfast! I'm no martial artist like Kagura, I have to save my hid somehow!"

"Wimp."

" In my defense I would like to say that I made the right choice. She reminds me of Otose and Otose is one scary lady."

"Otose?" Tsukuyo said.  
" Tereda Ayano. " Said her mother, "I remember now. You're Otose's boy. How could I forget?! I even carefully looked over your Omai profile. Come." She stated while grabbing both of their wrist." We must properly talk. Our house is not far from here." Before they both comprehended the situation, the two grown adults were being dragged away in the death grip of this ecstatic woman.

"But mother!" Tsukuyo protested as she tried to free herself to no avail. " I need to return to the office. I have yet to finish reviewing my case!"

"Nonsense! This is more important!" Her definition of important and Tsukuyo's definition of important were clearly different. " I'll call Amano-san and work something out, she owes me a favor or two from the past. And Otose is on her way as we speak. It's the meeting of the families! How exciting!"

Tsukuyo and Gintoki looked at each other terrified. When did she have the time to call Otose? And when did this simple lunch become a potential marriage meeting?

"Umm, Reiko-san?" said Gintoki timidly "I actually had something planned for today…"

"Nonsense!" she said, cutting him off. " Whatever it is that you have planned can be rescheduled. Otose will have none of this, you shall come to our house and we shall happily discuss the topic of your union."

Gintoki looked at Tsukuyo with wide eyes. Tsukuyo shook her head. There was no escape.

* * *

Gintoki fidgeted in his seat as the mother of the rude woman stared him down across the table. The house was lavishly furnished and the walls adorned with frames of family pictures. He intently stared at a far off picture of what appeared to be a younger Tsukuyo, her mother, and most likely her father. If intently staring at the frame would help him avoid eye contact, then staring at the frame he would for the remainder of this predicament. From his peripheral vision, he saw her wearing a Cheshire like grin; it unnerved him to no end. Frequently he glanced towards Tsukuyo for moral support however, the blonde was possibly more unnerved than himself. While she did not fidget under the gaze of her mother, Gintoki clearly saw her fist clench increasingly tighter as her mother spoke. Something in this household was astray, but at the moment his priorities lied elsewhere, what had he embroiled himself in now? Nothing ever did seem to go right when he was with the rude woman. A few minutes after he had been forced to sit down and also forced to enjoy a cup of tea, Otose strolled in with pipe-in-her hand and the usual grouchy frown on her face.

"Otose!" Gintoki cried out at seeing his foster mother, " Please kindly tell Reiko-san that I really can't stay, I had plan for tonight!" he said while raising from his seat.

"Sit back down, Gintoki, you're going nowhere." The older woman starkly replied. Gintoki immediately sat back down. He really wondered why all the women in his life seem to be so violent.

Reiko stood and embraced the older woman in a hug. " How wonderful to see you, Ayano! The years pass by too quickly, how long has it been? 2 years since we've last seen one another?"

She smiled at her friend. " It's nice to see you're such good health, Reiko. The years have been kind to you, you've barely aged."

"Nonsense! Do you see all these wrinkles?! I am far past my prime!"

"psssh, rude woman." Gintoki whispered as the older females continued chatting.

Tsukuyo turned to face him and exasperatedly said, " What, Gintoki? I'm not really in the mood for any sarcastic jokes right now."

" Hey, don't think I want to be here anymore than you do. Anyways, can't you say something to your mother to let me off the hook?"

"I wish I could say something to her to let ME off the hook. When she gets like this you just have to play along. Can't you say something to YOUR mother to get us both out of this situation?"

Gintoki laughed, " If you think your mother is stubborn then you've never had the pleasure of living with Otose. She could make a mule look dolce."

Tsukuyo covered her face with her hands, " I have the oddest sense that we are both doomed."

Gintoki continued to awkwardly laugh, " I know."

The two women abruptly stopped their conversation to keenly examine their children. Both Tsukuyo and Gintoki shrunk under the weight of their combined gaze.

"She's a bit on the thin side." Otose side, " It'll be hard on her when the time comes to deliver."

Reiko nodded, " I've always tried to fatten her to the best of my abilities but she's a picky eater."

Tsukuyo heavily blushed at their insinuations; this conversation was escalating very fast.

"What is his occupation?" Reiko asked Otose.

"He's a highschool history teacher, could have picked a better job in my opinion."

"I can hear you!" Gintoki replied.

"Shut it, Gintoki. The adults are trying to talk here."

Tsukuyo and Gintoki again exchanged glances. They both were in their late twenties, far from being children and yet they were being treated as such.

" Let us anticipate for June. While it is only 5 months away, I still believe that will provide ample time to prepare."

"Mother! What are you trying to say?! Me and Sakata-san have absolutely nothing between us!"

"No need to raise your voice, Tsukuyo. Also, your relationship with Gintoki-chan will progress wonderfully. All couples require some time to fall in love with one another." Reiko turned to Otose. "I've always dreamed of planning a big wedding, what is your input?"

"I don't mind" she replied, "It is suppose to be an auspicious day."

"She totally just disregarded what I said." Tsukuyo said to Gintoki. " I win!"

Gintoki aggressively ruffled his hair, " We need to think of a way to get out of this. We can't escape right now, those two are too powerful for us, but we need to devise a plan regardless."

"What do you suggest? My mother has x-ray vision, she has seen through every single one of my lies since I was 3."

"Otose can also smell a lie from a mile away. But she can also smell fear, the woman's crazy!"

"Let's be honest, both our mothers are crazy."

"Amen" Gintoki said. " Amen."

"Its settled then! Gintoki-chan, pack your belongings by tomorrow, you will be moving into Tsukuyo's flat." Cheerfully said Reiko.

"WHAT?!" Gintoki and Tsukuyo said in unison.

"But mother that's highly unethically! And why does he have to move in with me when he has a perfectly good apartment?!"

"Yeah, what she said. Come on, Otose, give me a break! I just want to enjoy my bachelorhood."

"No." the two women sternly replied.

"It is not unethical to live with your future husband. And it is a waste of money to pay for two apartments when your apartment alone is large enough to house both of you. I do not wish to hear any objections." Reiko said.

"Grow up Gintoki. You're not a boy anymore. It's time to settle down and that's final. Have your things ready by tomorrow or I'll forcibly move them there for you."

Gintoki silently stared at his foster mother with his mouth gaping wide. All these crazy women in his life! They were going to be the death of him.

"How wonderful Ayano-chan! We will be in-laws soon!"

Tsukuyo wanted to bury herself in a hole. This seriously could not be happening! She should have rejected the lunch date! Those manila folders seemed like heaven in comparison to this. Even though it was not Gintoki's doing, she placed the blame entirely on him, it was all Gintoki's fault! And apparently tomorrow she was going to obtain a new housemate. Why wasn't she banging her head on the wall yet?

* * *

**Otose's real name is Terada Ayano and I felt that a friend of hers would call her by her real name. And wow! Look at all that plot fuel go! Somethings going to happen soon, or its bound to happen soon. Stay tune for the next few chapters and I hope you enjoyed.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! I had finished this during finals week, I should have probably studied instead of writing this but that's ok, but I only got to proofreading it recently. Nonetheless, here is the latest chapter delivered to my lovely readers, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING **

* * *

A cold breeze rushed in from the open door. Tsukuyo clutched her cardigan closed as she leaned against the doorframe. The weather was rather fair considering that late January usual meant brittle cold and harsh winds. A blizzard might as well raged outside for all Tsukuyo cared, she was bitter, oh so bitter. Crossing her arms across her chest, Tsukuyo watched as Gintoki carried box after box into HER apartment. She grimaced at the thought of a roommate. Preferring the comfort of solitude, Tsukuyo adamantly refused to live with another person and yet she drew the short end of the stick. She was now forced to live with Gintoki.

" Do you plan on helping me at all or are you just gonna stand there taking up oxygen?" He asked while caring a heavy looking box which, more likely than not, contained his JUMP manga.

"I'll take up all the oxygen I want in MY house. Be grateful that I even opened the door for you." She snapped back. After the incident with both their parents, Tsukuyo's mood took a turn for the worse, with due reason. With much bickering Tsukuyo and Gintoki persuaded their mothers into postponing the move-in date for a week, a task that mirrored the difficulty of Hercules's own Twelve Labors.

Gintoki put another box down at the entrance to the apartment. " Hey, don't act like I want to be here anymore than you, okay? But with my mother breathing down my neck and your mother breathing down my neck, I wasn't left with any choice."

She snarled, " I know." She reluctantly said as she went to bring in a suitcase from the hallway.

He smiled, "Thank you."

"Don't look so smug, Gintoki." She said wheeling in another suitcase, " I'm only helping you so that I can close the door quicker, I hate the cold."

"Fine, fine. A man can't even say thank you without getting an earful. Pshh, women."

Tsukuyo glared at him, " Say that one more time and I'll sue you."

"For what? Freedom of speech?" He joked.

"Try me." Tsukuyo replied, her expression stoic.

Gintoki stood directly parallel to her, " Well that's everything." He said, " And I really rather not." She quickly closed the door behind her.

" That was the smart choice, Gintoki." Tsukuyo walked into the split living room and dining room with Gintoki a step behind." You'll be staying in the guest room." She said, pointing down the short corridor to the left.

Gintoki scanned the room. Her apartment was more spacious than his former place, and with the new renovations he noticed, her apartment was also much better quality. The stainless steel appliances, the black leather coach, and the hardwood dining table, it reminded him of a advertisement from a catalog. He sighed, this was the power of money. He slumped onto the couch, the pungent smell of leather hitting his nostrils on contact. " Sounds good to me. Now when's dinner gonna be ready, honey?"

Tsukuyo angrily threw a cushion in his face. " Don't kid about this! And dinner is not going to be ready, honey." She mocked, " Until you get up off your lazy bum and cook it yourself!"

"Wow, we've lived with each other for approximately three minutes and we've already have a couple's fight. This relationship is doomed."

"Tell me about it." She strode a few steps, now only inches away from Gintoki's face. " If anyone finds out about this cohabitation then I'm going to have your neck. Got it?!"

Gintoki nervously nodded his head. _Crazy women_, he said to himself, the one thing he did not need any more in his life.

* * *

The first week of their cohabitation passed rather uneventfully. No murders, no arson, only the occasion bickering. With the first hearing of her case impending, Tsukuyo frantically mowed through mounds of paperwork in an attempt to tie any loose ends. Often by the time she returned home from the office it was well over midnight, and Gintoki being a high school teacher, usually retired to bed long before that. The two, however, did coincidentally wake up at the same time. School started at 9 therefore Gintoki needed to be there before 8, and with Tsukuyo's apartment being a bit farther than his old apartment, he typically rose at 6. Tsukuyo, with her hectic schedule, also rose at 6 to arrive at the office early. A typical morning for Tsukuyo consisted of two cups of coffee, she knew she had a caffeine addiction, and a piece of fruit. Breakfast simply took too long to prepare in her opinion. Gintoki thought otherwise, breakfast was the most important meal of the day and he took pride in preparing a rather lavish, in Tsukuyo's opinion, menu every morning. And because he was already preparing his share, Gintoki often cooked more for Tsukuyo. Although she had not outright thanked the man, she very much appreciated his efforts, and even went as far as to stop scowling whenever she saw him. He was glad that his housemate no longer emitted a murderous aura whenever he entered the room, it helped his peace of mind. They mutually agreed to loathing their current situation, however, they were trying to make the best of it. For now the waters were calm but a storm tends to brew during the calm.

* * *

Gintoki reclined in his desk chair and he rubbed his stiff neck. He was getting too old for this, the kids sucked all his energy away like some sort of parasites. It honestly felt like he taught 5th graders instead of the 2nd year high school students they were supposed to be. When the lunch bell chimed, Gintoki was happier than his students, he could finally return to the teacher's lounge, drink his strawberry milk, and eat his bento. Today he prepared for himself some delicious egg rolls, extra sweet obviously, and some cake. Preferably he would have packed a parfait but the teacher's lounge only had a refrigerator, not a freezer. Eagerly fishing out his bento box from his backpack, he smiled at the thought of biting into that deliciously creamy cake, all that cakey goodness, he couldn't wait! Gintoki frowned the instant he saw the pink container._ Shit_. He must have accidently switched the rude woman's and his lunch. Gintoki sighed as he opened the bento box to unsurprisingly see white rice, pickled radishes, and a small piece of mackerel. He remembered packing this in disgust, the woman ate like she was 80, but seeing how busy she was this week, and him being the nice guy he was, Gintoki made her a bento lunch along with his own. Gintoki cursed at himself, kindness doesn't get a person anyway.

" I thought you hated fish." said his fellow teacher, a tan middle aged man named Hasegawa Taizo, better known in the school as Madao.

He pushed the mackerel aside with his chopsticks and started eating the rice, at least that was edible. " I do." He said in between mouthfuls." But my lunch got switched with someone else's, she's probably enjoying my cake and egg rolls right now, curse that rude woman!"

Madao quizzically looked at him through his sunglasses, the sunglasses that he wore everywhere, regardless if there was sun or not, " When did you get a girlfriend, Gintoki?"

Gintoki began stabbing at the fish, " I don't. I'm still the same bachelor I've been for the past few years. Living the dream still. "

"It must be Tsuki-nee!" said Kagura out of nowhere. " She loves mackerel! You guys are totally together! I knew it, Gin-chan, I knew it!"

Tsukuyo's threat of their cohabitation getting out ran through his head. " Oii! Don't jump to conclusions Kagura! It could be any other girl who likes mackerel."

"So there is a girl?" said Madao slyly.

"Well yes, no…ughh wait!"

"I'm telling you that it's Tsuki-nee!"

"Is that true, Gintoki-san? Congratulations then." Said the Vice principal as he came into the room. " Do send us a invitation to the wedding. The school hasn't had a marriage in a while."

Gintoki looked at them all mortified. " Who said anything about a wedding?! There's no way I'm going to marry that rude women."

" You're getting married, Dana? Congrats. What did you do? Get her knocked up?"

"Why are you even here Souichiiro?"

"Its Sougo, Dana." And the bishounen pointed to the stack of papers in his hand. " Just dropping something off. But shouldn't you worry about your soon-to-be born baby?"

"What there's a baby?" said Madao.

"Gin-chan! How dare you do that to Tsuki-nee! She'll milk you for all the child support she can get!"

"SHE'S NOT PREGNANT!" He shouted.

"Calm down, Gintoki-san. From experience I know how nerve wrecking it is to have your first child, but it will be okay." Said the vice principal.

"Oh not you too, old man." Gintoki said exasperated. This was getting out of hand. He had no intentions of getting married to Tsukuyo and she was definitely not pregnant! If the rude woman ever learned of what just transpired then she would decapitate him for sure. He blames Otose, it was her fault for forcing him to go to that stupid omai.

* * *

Tsukuyo stared at the open blue bento box sitting on her desk. The last time she checked her bento box was pink and typically consisted of rice and fish. She frowned at the sight of cake. What did that fool eat on a daily basis? He always prepared both their lunches, therefore she never questioned what he put in his own. She only knew that he packed rice and mackerel for her, that's all that mattered. She continued to stare at the slice of strawberry cake. Taking her chopsticks, she reached in and took a small piece. The instant the cake touched her tongue she regretted it. Tsukuyo honestly felt like she had just consumed condensed sugar, it was that sweet. She generally disliked sweet things, he was the exact opposite Gintoki, he certainly had an extra sweet tooth it seems.

" I thought you didn't like cake, Tsukuyo." Amano-san said as she placed some more files on her already cluttered desk.

" I don't."

The brunette cocked her head a bit. " Hmm, your lunch seems to say otherwise. Now that I mention it, you've been bringing a homemade lunch for the pass week. What happened to your dislike of cooking?" Tsukuyo placed the cover on the bento box. She'll buy herself a sandwich later on.

The blonde gave the brunette an exasperated sigh, " I wouldn't say I dislike cooking, more so it's simply to time consuming."

"But now?"

Tsukuyo paused for a second. " I got a new roommate that just happens to like cooking, "

"Ohhhh, and is this new roommate of yours the reason why you left early a couple weeks ago? Imagine my surprise when Hakka Reiko called me. You don't willy nilly get a call from her every day."

"I wish that was the case for me." Tsukuyo mumbled under her breath.

Amano let out a hearty laugh, " You can only say that because she's your mother. Regardless, I hope everything goes swimmingly for you and this new _roommate_ of yours."

Tsukuyo blushed while again mumbling a "thank you" as Amano exited the room. Oh Gintoki, he always wrecked more havoc than good, even with his pure intentions.

* * *

"So you're telling me that Reiko's going to be here in 10 minutes?" asked an utterly shocked Gintoki. " Like 600 seconds kind of 10 minutes."

Tsukuyo walked around the living room organizing picture frames and inspecting the furniture for dust. Luckily she swept and dusted the apartment yesterday in her brief moment of free time, it was her body foreshadowing the visit of her mother. " I don't know what other type of 10 minutes there is but my mother will definitely be here in 10 minutes. That woman is punctual to a fault."

" Did she tell you?" he said while pacing back and forth between the living room and kitchen. " She must have told you, right?"

Tsukuyo inelegantly plopped onto the couch and she gestured for Gintoki to do the same. With her blonde locks in a messy bun, her grey hoodies, and a pair of yoga pants, she probably looked as much the part of a lazy bum as she acted it, Tsukuyo could care less though. Three weeks had passed since they moved in together. She imagined the situation to be much more awkward and troublesome but they ironically functioned like a well oiled machine. They rose at the same time. He was often tasked with breakfast duty since she was not mentally awake until her second cup of coffee, and Gintoki also prepared both their lunches. If Tsukuyo did not stay late at the office then she would stop by the supermarket for groceries and cook dinner. Laundry was done individually but they both mutually agreed to rotate turns cleaning the house. It was like they both gained a roommate. And with that acknowledgement, Gintoki began opening reading JUMP in the living room and Tsukuyo began walking around with a bare face and lounging on the couch. They poked fun of each other at first but as the days passed, both of them cared less and less how they appeared to one another.

Gintoki did as Tsukuyo command and sat down. " Don't look so terrified Gintoki, she can smell fear. She'll eat you right up."

"I'm sorry I don't have balls of steel like you, rude woman. But after the first experience with your mother, I'm mortified. I feel that my fear is warranted. Last time, I had met her for less than an hour and before I knew it, I was forced to move out of my apartment and into here. What does she have up her sleeve next?"

"Why don't you ask her? She's at the door now." The doorbell rang just as Tsukuyo finished her sentence. She glanced at the clock, " Exactly 10 minutes. Punctual as always mother."

"Can we pretend we're not home? Maybe if we ignore her long enough then she'll go away." Tsukuyo rolled her eyes.

" Please, I've already tried that twice. She knows were here, escape is futile. Brace yourself, Gintoki, I'm going to open the door."

Escape strategies sped through his mind. The apartment had a balcony. Even though they were on the fourth floor a jump like that wouldn't necessarily kill him, if he positioned himself just right he could be home free with a broken ankle and some scratches. Force is equal to the mass multiplied by the acceleration, so if you multiplied 65kg by 9.8, the constant for gravity, then the force on his legs would only be…..wait! The height of the building still had to be factored in. He ruffled his hair, if only he had paid attention to physics in college! He'll wing it, Gintoki remembered all those emergency fire procedures the school forced the students to learn. He could lessen the pressure from his legs by rolling instead of strictly landing, or maybe that would fracture his shoulder instead? That was a risk he was willing to take. Just as Gintoki rose to attempt his escape the door impeccably opened.

* * *

Tsukuyo handed both her mother and Gintoki a cup of freshly brewed green tea, her mother would not have her tea served any other way. She noticed Gintoki openly fidgeting under the powerful gaze of her mother. _The poor soul._ She thought to herself. The interrogation was imminent. Tsukuyo previously told Gintoki to brace himself for good reasons, the levels of privacy that Reiko would violate only grew exponentially as the conversation continued. Tsukuyo did not think even she was prepared for what the woman had up her sleeve, she was conniving and manipulative. Although those negative terms should not be associated with a mother, they nonetheless described Reiko perfectly. She knew how to manage people and bend their will to her liking, it was truly frightening the degree of control she held over others.

"How have you been, Gintoki-chan? Are there any amenities I can implant that perhaps will make your residency more comfortable?"

" No, Reiko-san. None at all, I am perfectly content." Gintoki replied, picking his words very carefully.

" Mother, why exactly are you here today? I've already moved in with Sakata-san, what more do you expect?" Tsukuyo said straight to the point. She wanted to bypass the useless pleasantries, what was on her agenda today? She always had an agenda.

"My, Tsukuyo, no need to be hasty. I, as a mother, simply wishes to visit her daughter. Is that an abnormality?"

Tsukuyo tried to hide the disdain on her face. It should be a crime, she want to say that outright but Tsukuyo bit back the remark.

Sensing the high tension in the air caused by the animosity mainly emulating from Tsukuyo, Gintoki tried changing the subject. " The new candidate for mayor seems quite suitable, don't you think, Reiko-san?"

"You don't have to try so hard. I know you hate politics so drop the act." Tsukuyo said.

" What whaat are you talking about, Tsukuyo-san? I fulfill my obligations to society by voting!" he stammered out.

Reiko rose from her seat. " Heed not her biting remarks, Gintoki-chan. Tsukuyo appears to be in a rather peevish temperament, leave the girl be."

Tsukuyo scowled as she slumped lower into the couch.

" Where are you going, Reiko-san?!" He asked.

"Hopefully to leave." Tsukuyo mumbled to herself. Gintoki gave her a panic look. Why did she have to show her mommy problems?! The tension between the two of them was suffocating him. Through his self proclaimed highly honed deduction skills, Gintoki easily could tell that the opinions of the two women clashed. But he would have never guessed to the extent of their disagreement. Although he often addressed Tsukuyo as the rude woman, she in actuality was a courteous person, however, in front of her mother, Tsukuyo blatantly opposed her. Their relationship was messy to say the least, something he needed to avoid like the plague. Girl problems only ever ended poorly for him.

Reiko returned from wondering the apartment with a frown on her face. " Gintoki-chan, are the belongings in the guest bedroom yours?"

The silver haired man nodded his head.

"Oh my, does that then mean you are also permanently residing in that room?"

"If you mean I'm staying in the room right now, then yes."

"How unacceptable!" Gintoki looked to Tsukuyo for clarification but she was as confused as he was. " Move your belongings to Tsukuyo's room at once. Tethering of the souls can only be achieved through the sharing of a bed. It is an intimacy that is necessary for love to flourish."

They both stared at her as if she had two heads.

"Mother!" Tsukuyo protested, " It makes no sense for Gintoki to move into my room when there is a perfectly good, empty room right around the corner!"

"Empty? The room is in no manner vacant. I'll be staying for an indefinite amount of time."

"But you have your own house! A much more lavishly furnished house! With a maid to boot!"

"And you have a vacant room. The discussion has concluded. I will call the housekeeper to arrange a few necessities. I shall return in an hour or two. Gintoki-chan, it's imperative that your personal belongings be removed now, I cannot guarantee the safety of anything. I have a tendency to dispose of whatever I see fit." And with that Reiko temporarily left the apartment.

"Maybe I should have just jumped off the balcony and taken my chances with fate." He grimly said.

Tsukuyo sighed, " She would have intercepted you regardless."

Gintoki turned to the blonde, " Have you tried?"

"I've tried everything." She said as she picked up the cups and brought them to the sink.

* * *

**If you hadn't noticed, Tsukuyo has some mommy issues, Ill talk more about it in the later chapters. But wow, things are rolling. Not only are Gintoki and Tsukuyo living together but they're also going to share a bed?! Gasp! So scandalous. Stay tune for how this will play out. Thank you all for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Don't worry guys I'm not dead, just a procrastinator. I had planned for this part to be an Omake for the initial chapter I wrote but then I realized that this fit better as a stand alone. That's good news for you guys since I technically have the next next chapter all written, I just now have to write the next chapter, confusing right? That is just how the flow of things worked, sorry! But do stay tune for more Gintoki and Tsukuyo goodness! And thank you to all the lovely readers and reviewers of this story, I really appreciate it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

A wave of relief washed over Gintoki as he watched Reiko noisily wheel her suitcase to the living room. The past few days had been a living hell. True to her word, Reiko moved her luggage into his former room that night. Luckily Gintoki had heeded Tsukuyo's warning and quickly gathered his collection of JUMP manga, saving them from mercilessly being disposed of. And true to her word again, Reiko forced Gintoki, literally forced him, into the same room as Tsukuyo, and promptly stood watch outside their door in lieu of any escape plans. Gintoki was never one to rely on the strength of alcohol but at that moment he felt as though nothing else would cure the migraine induced by the Hykka women. Screw the shot glasses, give him the whole goddamn bottle of vodka! He deserved that much for his suffering. But being the gentleman he was, Gintoki took everything as a pill to swallow, he didn't complain, at least not out loud anyway. Tsukuyo was equally as displeased as him, she actually insisted that he sleep on the small love seat in the corner of the room, Gintoki was not that much of a gentleman. Chivalry be damned! He had a class to teach at 8am the following day, the man needed a good night's beauty rest! And after much bickering about how he needed to grow some balls and then even more bickering as he countered with a, " If you think you have more balls than me, then go sleep on the chair yourself." Tsukuyo crossed her arms and promptly spat out a

" Fuck you."

Gintoki smoothly replied with a " anytime sweetheart." That earned him a kick to the kidney. Another hour of arguing later, the two finally compromised on the bed sharing situation. Each person gets a side and the middle is No Man's Land, proceed with extreme caution, it cannot be guaranteed that anyone will make it out of there alive. Reluctantly, both Gintoki and Tsukuyo succumbed to their lamentable fate and dozed off to the soft breathing of one another.

Although unlikely, Tsukuyo had hoped that when she awoke the next morning, her life would return to its normal routine and the memory of her mother invading her home an awful dream, she was wrong. Gintoki shared the same sentiments as they both watched the deplorable woman preparing breakfast. If yesterdays's frustration was not consuming the greater portion of her mind, then Tsukuyo might have been grateful but it was a little too late. Tsukuyo had to hold Gintoki by the neck to prevent himself from ramming his head into the wall. The poor man learned the hard way what a noisy mother-in-law would be like without even being married. At least no other mother-in-law could even compare to the tenacious mother before them now. And that's how three days past until this godsend moment of joy, Reiko was finally leaving!

Gintoki rose from the couch and eagerly went to see their uninvited guest to the door. " Its been a pleasure, Reiko-san( no not really) I hope you visit soon. (no, really, don't come back)." He said with the best smile he could fabricate.

Reiko, either being incredibly cunning or rather oblivious, Gintoki bet on cunning, grabbed his hands and genuinely smiled at his remark. " I'am overjoyed that you're here, Gintoki. And do not let this old hag further disturb you youths any longer, my visit has long been overstayed."

_You think? _Gintoki thought to himself. Before Reiko left she slide something small into the palm of his hands.

" I am old Gintoki, and I ask for little in my life, but at least try for me. Waiting until June is also within reasonable bounds." Gintoki opened his palm to find a condom. He looked at her stupefied, this lady was deranged!

"Umm, you should take this back, Reiko-san. I don't want this."

She gave him a wink, " You'll never know when it'll come in handy Gintoki-chan." He continued to stare at her with his mouth agape. The audacity of the elderly! And they said that the youth was perverted! Before Gintoki could utter another word Reiko was out the door and momentarily gone from their lives.

The perm haired man glanced at the condom one more time, too stunned to truly believe that he had so blatantly handed a condom. He blinked but the two by two inch protective piece of lubricant was still in his hand, well what was he going to do with this now?

With impeccable timing, Tsukuyo strolled over at the sound of the closing door. "Is she finally gone?" she asked.

Gintoki nodded his head as the condom sat conspicuously in his palm. Tsukuyo gave him the stank eye. " You're not going to get any here, pal. I know a couple of good strip clubs if you want, they might even pity you if you give them a couple extra dollars. "

Gintoki looked at her mortified, " What is it with your family?! I swear you're all a bunch of closet perverts! And people accuse me of being the dirty minded one."

"Well, that's a rather weak argument coming from the man holding a condom in his hand."

He threw his arms in the air, " Your mother gave me this, okay? I don't know why she would be carrying around condoms on a normal basis but then again I don't know what goes on in that head of hers."

Tsukuyo let out a sigh, " Of course it was her, who else would it be?" She gently lifted her purse from the coat hook, " Come on Gintoki, in celebration of her leaving I'll treat you to something nice."

He didn't have any complainants, " Sure, but what do I with this condom?"

The blonde shrugged, " Keep it I guess, you never know when you'll need it."

"Its funny you say that because your mother said the exact same thing earlier." He slide the condom into his pocket. " Ehhh, maybe one of these days it will come in handy."

"You never know, Gintoki, you may get lucky at the restaurant tonight." Tsukuyo said as she walked out the front door.

* * *

***wink*wink* Guess whats going to happen next chapter! **


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm alive! I meant to have this chapter up by the beginning of September but then a thing called life happened. Sorry about that guys. But college did start so I don't think I'll have the time to update as often but I'll try for a chapter a month! No promises though. Enough of my chitter chatter, I hope you guys enjoy the latest chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

Gintoki awoke to an acute throbbing on his frontal lobe. The head splitting pain caused him to moan in agony; this was surely the working of yesterday's vodka. It had been a joke. He only proposed the idea of drinking himself drunk so that he could forget the migraine induced by Reiko. Color Gintoki surprised when the small Omayaki shop Tsukuyo brought him to actually sold vodka. At the time it seemed liked a harmless decision, Gintoki was a responsible adult (country to popular belief) and he held his liquor well enough. Or so he previously assumed. But then the violent woman had to become competitive and challenge him to a drinking contest; a real man never backed down from such a challenge. Reflecting upon that night, Gintoki regretted his decision. In hindsight he knew the repercussions and yet he still idiotically chugged down the vodka like in his college days.

A stirring motion roused him from his thought. He glanced to the side and saw a peacefully sleeping Tsukuyo. It was not her presence on the bed that shocked him ( after all, they had been forced to share a bed) , it was her clothing, or lack of it that sent bells ringing throughout his head. The blonde was stark naked, he could tell that much even as the blanket modestly covered her. And then it hit him like an eighteen wheeler, he was also naked. Praying to find himself clothed, Gintoki lifted the white linen sheets and a surge of disappoint washed over him. He was indeed boxerless. Shit. The damn violent woman hit the mark with her prediction. He did get lucky last night, but with the worst possible partner. Well, it was going to be awkward explaining his way out of this sticky situation. Gintoki, being the incredibly smart man he was, decided to flee the scene of the crime before she woke up and falsely accused him of anything. God forbid she sued him for everything he had, there wasn't much, but his collection of JUMP manga meant more than the graduation rate of his students. Yes his priorities were twisted but that was how deep his love for JUMP ran. With a newfound stealth, Gintoki slide out of bed and attempted to locate his boxers. Luck be it, his boxers were nowhere to be found.

"Fuck." He swore silently under his breath.

"Why aren't you wearing any pants, Gintoki?" asked Tsukuyo groggily. Gintoki jumped slightly. Using his hands to cover his privates and appear decent, he turned to Tsukuyo and awkwardly smiled. The blonde shot up in bed as her own words set in. The blanket slide down her chest and Gintoki may or may not have caught a little glimpse of something he shouldn't have, of course he'll never say. Clutching the blanket to conceal her blatant nudity, Tsukuyo stared at Gintoki with great confusion. " Why am I not wearing pants?"

Gintoki shrugged, still conspicuously standing in his birthday suit, " To each their own I say," answered Gintoki as he pretended to downplay the situation as much as possible. Nevertheless, two and two finally clicked in Tsukuyo's head, "Shit."

"I said the same thing."

Tsukuyo buried her face into her hands. " I was only kidding when I said you might get lucky."

Gintoki let out a scoff. "Yeah, I thought so too but here we are….well isn't this awkward."

"Way to state the obvious." She said indignantly. Tsukuyo rubbed her throbbing temple. Remind her to stay far far away from alcohol; she wanted to blame it all on the vodka but Tsukuyo knew the fault lied in her own poor judgment. She sighed. " Put on some pants Gintoki, it's too early in the morning for my eyes to be scarred."

He sheepishly smiled, " I would if I could, but I can't seem to find my boxers."

"There's a robe on the hook, wear it for now." She said exasperated. Why did her life have to be so difficult? Was it too much to ask that her Saturday morning's were mundane and downright boring? Apparently so.

"Thanks" Gintoki nonchalantly said as he slide the slightly tight robe on, beggars can't be choosers though.

"You're taking this rather well, Gintoki. I assume this isn't your first one night stand?"

"What if I said you were my first?" He said in complete seriousness. They exchanged somber glances at one another and then burst into laughter.

"That's a good one, Gintoki. You a virgin? What's going to happen next? Maybe my mother will stop harassing us to get married." Tsukuyo said in between breaths.

Gintoki also chuckled, " What, is it so hard to be that I can be pure both in body and mind?"

"I'm going to puke, Gintoki. I can't imagine you as anything other than the lecherous man you are."

"As usual you hold me in such high regards." He said with the tiniest sigh," But who am I kidding? Definitely not myself. And to answer your question, yes this was my first one night stand. I would hardly count you as a stranger though, violent woman."

"I like to say we're acquaintances forced to live in extremely close proximity of one another." Tsukuyo said, correcting him.

"You seem to be taking this in strides also, violent woman. I guess lawyers aren't as straight lace as everyone thought them to be."

"I wouldn't be talking Mr. I-cant-find-my-underwear. Let's keep this under wraps. Not a soul will hear of what transpired last night, not a soul, Gintoki!"

He shrugged his shoulders. " I don't know what you're talking about. I only remember having a nice dinner with my roommate last night. Now if you excuse me I'm going to get dressed. And some friendly advice, you should too."

* * *

Hinowa eyed her absentminded friend from across the table. Even as Hinowa stared with the piercing gaze of a hawk, Tsukuyo continued stirring her coffee, oblivious to her friend's attention.

"Did something good happen recently, Tsukuyo?" The black haired beauty asked, discretely probing her friend for an answer.

"There's been a steady stream of work lately, it keeps us busy, I guess that's a good thing." She answered, still fiddling with her coffee.

"Hmm." Hinowa said in contemplation. Beating around the bush with Tsukuyo was a painstakingly slow method; the woman would deny her all the joys of life by acting oblivious to her teasings. Straight and to the point she needed to be. " I'm not referring to work, Tsukuyo. I mean your personal life, something good _mus_t have recently happened. Could it be that man currently living with you, what was his name, Gintoki?"

Tsukuyo stiffened. She stopped her stirring and stared back at Hinowa stupefied. " How do you know this? Its classified information; the only other person who knows is my mother." Hinowa grinned deviously, " She told you didn't she?" Tsukuyo sighed. " Why am I not even mad."

"Your mother and I are on rather good terms, Tsukuyo, so it is not that surprising. I am only saddened that I heard it from her mouth instead of yours. But no matter." Hinowa leaned closer in." So tell me, how is he in bed?"

Tsukuyo almost spilled the coffee she had lifted to her lips.

"Hinowa!" she cried with an obvious blush." This is hardly the place for a conversation like this!"

The blacked hair beauty just smiled. "So then you will tell me? We can very easily take this conversation elsewhere, my shop is an ideal location." She said with a wink. " I know that you were never into the kinky stuff but maybe that will change with him. Handcuffs, edible underwear and flavored condoms, don't feel shy to ask, they're all on me."

Tsukuyo simply shook her head." As I've said before, Hinowa, thanks but no thanks."

"Awhh." Said Hinowa pouting. " Come now, Tsukuyo, you've always rejected my offers. What's the point of your best friend owning a sex shop when you never want any free things? Condoms are always free for you, Tsukuyo." Hinowa loved teasing her friend this way.

"That's all I need in my life, a best friend who can supply my nonexistent sex life with an endless supply of condoms." Tsukuyo replied dryly. It was no secret that her top priority in life was work. This fact often off put any potential romantic candidate

Hinowa playfully slapped Tsukuyo on the arm." I doubt that you lack a sex life now that you live with Gintoki. I reckon the two of you have fiery, passionate love making every night. How big is his d..."

Tsukuyo quickly reached over the table to cover her mouth."Hinowa! We're in public!" She hissed as she looked around the room to see if anyone was eavesdropping, " And what makes your wild imagination think any of this happened? We are forced to live together, that's it, nothing more."

"Sure it is," she said knowingly," sure it is." Hinowa knew better though, call it a sixth sense, but the woman could tell if someone had sex recently and Tsukuyo was tripping off all her alarms. Hinowa tried to control her grin. This truly was an auspicious occasion! She would help her loveable yet uptight friend pursue her romance in whatever way possible. Having an inventory of sex toys on hand also made this task a bit easier.

* * *

Gintoki diverged from the heavy flow of Shibuya traffic and headed down a narrow alleyway, the strip of pavement only fitting another body. He walked until the inconspicuous sign of what appeared to be a restaurant appeared. Sliding open the door he was greeted with a warm welcome by the chef. The place was empty save for one blacked haired man donned in a police outfit at the central seat of countertop strip.

"Fancy meeting you here, Gintoki." The man said stoically.

Gintoki slide into one of the nearby vacant seats. He nodded as the chef asked if he'll have the usual.

" Why so surprised mayro? I come here as often as you. I've just been a bit preoccupied these days is all."

The man turned, his stool now facing Gintoki, " Usually I am not one for idle gossip but I heard that there's a misses at home waiting for you now. When did you settle down, Gintoki? You should have invited me to the wedding; I would have gotten you a decent enough gift"

Gintoki wanted to bang his head on the counter, what rumors were people spreading about him? And who was the deplorable person spreading such lies?! "I don't know what lies people have been feeding you besides your mayonnaise but I'm still single and free to mingle like always."

Hijikata shrugged his shoulders, " If that's what you say, Gintoki. I heard you got her knocked up though, is that true?"

" Oiii" he now half shouted, " don't go believing everything you hear! It was Kagura and her big mouth I bet! That girl is going to be the death of me." The perm haired man said exasperated. He looked directly into Hijikata's eyes," And for your information she is very 'unpregnant'. She can barely find herself a date let alone a baby daddy."

" So there is a girl then?" Hijikata asked, slightly curious now who this supposedly infuriating woman was.

Gintoki sighed, "It's complicated. If you mean there is an unwanted female presence in my life then the answer is yes." He said bitterly. Gintoki suddenly leaned in closer to Hijikata." You know any eligible girls? Any pretty secretaries at the office?! Throw a dog a bone!"He begged.

" That's hardly the phrase to use when talking about females. And what about the woman you're living with? I don't understand why you're searching for another potential partner when there's a candidate right in front of you."

Gintoki grimaced at the thought of directing any romantic gestures towards Tsukuyo. It actually made him gag a bit in his mouth. "Never going to happen. We have nothing in common." He then keenly eyed Hijikata. "But you, Mayora, you have a lot in common with her. I swear you and that violent woman are basically two peas in a pod." Gintoki then deviously grinned to himself as a brilliant idea popped into his head. " say Mayora, you're still a cop right?"

Hijikata stared at him slightly annoyed, he was wearing his uniform after all. " Last time I checked I still was."

" And you're single right?"

" If you want to put it in those terms then yes. What's your point, Gintoki?"

" What do you say about old Gintoki here setting you up on a blind date? Although she can be a bit rough around the edges I think you'll get along swell. You're both in the criminal justice field, she's a hot shot lawyer you see, and you're both such stickers for the rules, its distributing the uncannily resemblance. So what do you say Mayora? Just give her a chance!"

Hijikata scratched his head, " I'm not exactly the type that's meant for romance, Gintoki. Women don't like it when men are too devoted to their jobs."

" Neither is she! And the woman is practically married to her job! You guys are a match made in heaven! Now if only I could find my own personal Ana Ketsuno." Gintoki said dreamily.

"Actually." Hijikata began, " I think there may be someone at the office who can survive a date with you."

Gintoki perked up at the notion of going on a date with a Ana Ketsuno double. " Is she pretty? And please don't tell me she's violent, I've had my fill of violent women for a lifetime."

"She's a no nonsense type of woman but I wouldn't classify her as violent." Hijikata picked his words carefully as he replied, "she has short brown hair and a agreeable looking face, that sounds like your type Gintoki."

The chef handed both Hijikata and Gintoki their individual bowls, one with extra mayonnaise and the other with extra red beans.

"So I'll introduce you if you introduce me, Mayro. I think this is a win win situation for both of us if I do say so myself."

"Come on, live a little! When was the last time you've been on a date? A couple years right? You have to move on."

"But…" Hijikata said, still hesitating.

"No buts Mayora, if you're not doing it for yourself then consider it a favor towards me. I'll owe you one"

Hijikata scoffed, " For what little that will be worth, but fine." He said in defeat." I'll go on this ridiculous blind date. You pick the time and location. Let me be completely surprised while I'm at it."

Gintoki grinned from ear to ear." Phenomenal! And do the same for me then, Mayora. You pick the place and time, but try to make it interesting. And yes a museum is not interesting."

Hijikata pried his chopsticks apart, ready to eat. "It seems that we both have dates to anticipate soon. I wonder if this will go wonderfully well or be a disastrous experience."

"It'll be fine, Mayora! Stop your worrying and just eat your disgusting bowl or mayonnaise."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who's eating the personification of diabetes in a bowl."

"Don't knock it till you try it."

"I rather not die of coronary heart disease." Hijikata said dryly.

"Wow, you and that violent woman even talk alike, you will get along with her swimmingly Hijikata. I'll be surprised if you didn't like each other."

He took a chopstick full of rice from the bowl,"Only time will tell for the both of us, only time will tell."

* * *

**Both Gintoki and Tsukuyo seemed to have taken the situation rather well, or did they? And this potential date swap arch, oh my so much is going to happen. Keep reading guys to find out! But I am very happy that I got to introduce some more characters. I love Hijikata and I apologize if he's a bit OOC, I know that he is the type to never really hesitate on a question but for the sake of the story Hijikata will be a bit more weak willed. I hoped you guys liked it though!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay I'm back and ready to answer some of you dying questions. Skip this part and go straight to the story if you're not in the mood to hear my rambling. Ok, here we go!**

**1\. Tsukuyo is not pregnant, remember Gintoki had that singular condom. I do not think I will plan for an unplanned pregnancy, that is a plot tool I will try to not succumb to using if possible.**

**2\. This fic has its own OC supporting characters who do not play as big role of a role as the original cast. They will be popping their heads in every once and a while. After all, what is Gintama without its ensemble of quirky characters.**

**3\. I really do appreciate all the comments, especially the constructive criticism. One day I will be a better writer! And thank you to the reviewer who caught my Hijikata mistake, opps, my bad.**

**Otherwise I do not have anything else i particularly want to address. However, thank you to all those who have shown interest in this story! I"ll try to update more often but schools is a pain, I can say that I will at least update once a month...hopefully. End of my rambles. Enjoy the chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

Gintoki fiddled with the long piece of wool wrapped around his neck; he hated itchy scarves. With a sigh, the man gave up all hope of relieving his neck of the accursed accessory. He glanced at his watch, 11:20, for the first in years Gintoki had not deliberately showed up late to a date, he actually got here early. And by here he meant the completely arbitrary choice of meet-up locations selected by Hijikata. Leaning against the edge of the fountain, Gintoki searched the heavy stream of people for a woman with short brown hair and a red wool scarf. Leave it to that Mayora to have a designated date item, this wasn't the 1990s. While that mayonnaise fanatic was at it, he should have just asked them to both hold a singular red rose, maybe then it would be even more obvious. Nevertheless though, Gintoki kept an eye out for his potential date, but that was easier said than done. A steady stream of people kept passing by, it was hard to make out anything besides the blur of bodies, but that was to expected of a nice Sunday afternoon. Gintoki leaned back a bit, resting his hands on the ledge of the fountain. He glanced upwards at the blue,cloudless February sky. It was a beautiful day; he hoped it wouldn't be ruined by a bad blind date. He said a quick prayer, just don't let his date be violent, that's all he asked for in life, this one small favor.

From his peripheral vision Gintoki spotted a distinct redness around someone's neck, he sat up properly and searched the crowd. The closer he looked, the more his speculations were proven right, that was clearly a red scarf around the neck of a woman, and she appeared to have short hair. He squinted to get a better look at the face, then his sense of recognition finally kicked in. At a break neck pace Gintoki stripped his neck of the scarf and tried to hide it behind his back, but it was too late, the woman had already seen him.

"Oh my, Gintoki sensei, why are you here on a Sunday afternoon? I would think that you'd be at home enjoying the last day before work."

Gintoki nervously laughed as he tried to hide the conspicuous red scarf. "Aha, I was actually suppose to met someone here." He practically stuttered out." But it seems like she's a no show. Cant be helped, guess I just gotta go home for the day."

The brunette gave him a very unsettling smile." Are you friends with Hijikata-san, Gintoki? He told me to met a friend of his here for a date. I came all this way because I very much respect Hijikata-san as a colleague, I know that he would never set me up with a ditcher, or a deadbeat. And it would have been such a waste if I came all this way for nothing, right?" she said, leering into his soul.

Gintoki shrunk under the scrutiny of her gaze, " Aha I guess you're right. Hijikata is a virtuous person, he would never set you up on a date with such a scumbag."

She continued to smile, " Then let me ask you again, Gintoki sensei, why are you here today?"

Gintoki only prayed for one thing, just one measly thing and yet the world wanted to deprive his life of any joy. Color him shocked when he saw that the woman wearing the red scarf was none other than Shinpachi's sister. The scary Anego who's concoction of black matter could literally kill a man twice his size. Gintoki could not place into words the fear he felt, especially as he failed to escape her grasp. " Why I'm here to see you of course, Otae. I would have NEVER thought that you knew Hijikata. And I would have NEVER thought that you would be the girl he would recommend. NEVER did I expect this, NEVER."

Otae impatiently tapped her shoes on the asphalt. " And I also would NEVER have expected you to be friends with Hijikata-san either but the world is full of surprises isn't it Gintoki sensei?" That unnerving smile of hers was still plastered prominently on her face, Gintoki shuddered. " Now we're running a bit late." She said. " Let's quickly get to the café and grab our brunch, what do you say Gintoki sensei?"

It wasn't like he had much of a choice. This woman was equally as scary as Otose, and not just anyone can reach the Otose level of scariness. It took one very strong willed and fearsome woman to become a second Otose. Gintoki obediently nodded his head, resistance was futile. " Lead the way." He reluctantly said. Staying home with the violent woman was a better alternative than this, but he was already in too deep. He crossed his fingers and hoped that Otae would not force him to eat her black matter by the end of the day, he enjoyed living with function organs.

* * *

Tsukuyo had not intended for the meeting to run that late, it was a Sunday after all. The one hour meeting unfortunately stretched for three hours and now she was running behind. She silently cursed to herself; her good will of standing in for Amano-san ironically backfired on her. Anticipating the walk back to the apartment, changing, and then coming to the meeting location, Tsukuyo believed that two hours was a very adequate amount of time. But things never do go as planned. And that's why she was standing underneath a dog statue in her Christian Louboutin heels, black pencil shirt, white blouse and Prada saffiano bag; she was hardly date ready. Tsukuyo nibbled the tip of her nail, a nervous tick of hers. This was her first date in a long while, excluding all the omais her mother forced her to. And after reluctantly accepting Gintoki's request, mainly due to relentless pestering, Tsukuyo immediately regretted her decision. Mentally, she was not prepared to for this date and that caused her serve anxiety. Fuck, she swore to herself again. She ruined the date before it already began. From personal experience, Tsukuyo knew that men did not like to see women dressed too formally. If she had dolled herself exclusively for the date then it would be fine, but heaven forbid that she showed them her status as a lawyer. They would never recovery for the blow to their egos. The mere thought of those chauvinist men her mother forcefully introduced her to caused the blood in her veins to boil. And this was why she liked remaining single. While she ranted on in her head about the worthlessness of men, Tsukuyo's said date approached closer and closer.

Hijikata, being the punctual man he was, arrived right on time. His watch read 6:30, not a minute more or less. There was ample time to walk the short distance to the art gallery for the 7:00 exhibition. Hijikata had doubted if Gintoki had enough tact to plan a date that did not revolve around pachinko but lo and behold, Gintoki not only got two tickets to a popular art exhibition but he even reserved a table for them at a nice tradition Japanese restaurant reasonably nearby. The man had some semblance of sense in him after all. Even if the date goes horribly wrong, or if this "violent woman" Gintoki calls her, turns out to be as volatile as he repeatedly says, then he at least got free admission to an art show he had wanted to attend and a free meal. It wasn't a bad deal considering he would have worked overtime otherwise.

Hijikata scanned the crowd for a blond woman, look for a resting bitch face Gintoki had advised him. Honestly though, those two have too unique of a relationship for him to even try to understand. He only saw one blond, and she seemed rather peeved. However, she was dressed as if she just left a board meeting, hardly the outfit for a casual Sunday date. Well what did he know, he wasn't a lady's man for a reason. It was probably him who underdressed. Hijikata walked over to the woman.

"Hykka-san is that you?" he asked after taking a closer look. The blond initially looked at him with disgust but her expression immediately softened.

"Hijikata-san what a surprise." She bowed curtly. " It's a pleasure to meet you again." Tsukuyo was indeed very pleased to see that the man Gintoki set her up with was not a bum but a respectable colleague of hers. "What a small world we live in. It seems like we both have had the pleasure of knowing Gintoki." She said with a slight hinge of disgust while saying his name.

He politely nodded. " A small world indeed, Hykka-san." Never would he have thought that the woman Gintoki lived with was Hykka-san. She was the epitome of a workaholic, much like himself, and he never guessed her to be the type to cohabitate with someone other than her potential husband. But the more Hijikata thought about it, the more he realized that they were very similar, just as Gintoki had said. But being mirror images of each other does not exactly form the perfect relationship, it makes for a better friendship. Somehow he knew the outcome of the date before it even began.

" Shall we get going to the exhibition. We don't want to be late."

She smiled. "Of course! And did you hear of the most recent murder? One of the lawyers in my office is up to his neck in legalistic. The police can't seem to find enough incriminating evidence though. "

" Those of us in the criminal investigation division are also stumped. We struggled to find enough evidence to bring him in. If we hadn't gotten a court martial to search his house then I think he would still be roaming the city somewhere."

"Scary isnt it? People are only getting more creative in their crimes." She said. " Have you talked to Umibozu recently?" There was much to talk about, this might not be a half bad date yet.

* * *

Gintoki ripped off the obnoxious red scarf and threw it to the ground as he entered the apartment. Lethargically, he dragged his way to the couch and slumped down ,sighing as he unbuttoned part of his shirt. How in the world did a date that began at none drag on till 10?! How?! He rubbed his tired eyes, poor Shinpachi, living with Otae must be equivalent to one of Hercules 12 Labors. As impeccable with timing as her mother, Tsukuyo walked through the front door in her little black dress, a form fitting white top and heels. His head was turned to face her, an expression of amusement suddenly replacing his fatigue.

"Well don't you look nice, violent woman. Look at you all dressed up, you must have blown the socks off of Mayora, though maybe a little modesty would have been better for the first date." He said jokingly.

Tsukuyo rolled her eyes as she took off the pain inducing heels. " The sarcasm isn't welcomed Gintoki." She said, striding the few short steps to the couch. She plopped herself ungracefully in the seat besides him.

"Date didn't go well?" he asked.

She rubbed the ball of her feet, sore for a day full of standing. " On the contrary. The date was rather nice. I must say Gintoki, your choice of venues was very well picked. The restaurant was great and the exhibition was also lovely. I had a good time."

Gintoki stared at her in utter confusion, " And your problem is exactly what then?"

Tsukuyo let out a bitter laugh." We have no chemistry." It was ironic that those words were coming from her mouth but it was the absolute truth. "He's a great guy but I cant see myself being anything other than friends with him. Also, he works in the police force. I have known him for many years now, he's good at his job but I've never thought more to it."

"Well then….." He said awkwardly, poor Hijikata! The violent woman just hit him right in the friend zone! He's a great guy but that's it?! Woah, women were brutal.

Tsukuyo laughed again, this time with a hint of amusement in her voice. " I see that you didn't know. His name is Hijikata Toushirou, though I'am not sure why you call him what was it mayonnaise? I work with him and Umibozu, Kagura's father, whenever the police department needs a lawyer and that is fairly often."

Gintoki mouthed an "Oh". He should have pieced together the puzzle. Obviously a lawyer in the D.A's office would have frequent contact with those in law enforcement. And now that he thought about, Gintoki vaguely remembered Shinpachi mentioning his sister working as a secretary there as well. Attention to detail

She scanned him up and down. " Now that I'm noticing it, Gintoki, why do you look like you just got back from an afternoon date?"

"Because I just did." He said nonchalantly. Well he did.

"Mind elaborating a bit there, I cant exactly read minds you know."

Gintoki let out another sigh. " It all started when my I got to the date. I was expecting an Ana Ketsuno look alike, that was what I had specifically told Mayora to find me." Tsukuyo gave him a dirty look but he just brushed it off. " That Mayora did me dirt though! Imagine my surprise when the woman who showed up was none other than Shinpachi's scary older sister! I literally almost shit my pants. I tried to weasel my way out but that woman, oh she does things with her glare, I swear it rivals Otose."

She looked at him doubtfully, " Stop exaggerating. I bet it wasn't that bad, you're just being dramatic. No one is on par with Otose other than my mother."

He shuddered at the thought of the black matter. " The date itself was bad. We had a nice lunch at a café where I tried to get by with small talk of the weather and Shinpachi, and the movie wasn't half bad either." The day had not spiraled downhill yet, but yet was the key word.

"Then why are you complaining?"

"It was the black matter." He said, the color draining at the mere thought of the poison that was her cooking. " She forcefully dragged me back to her house for dinner with Shinpachi and then forced me to eat her deadly cooking. I'm surprised I even made it back alive, violent woman."

"It cant be ….."

He cut her off. " Have you even seen your life flash before your eyes? Well mine just did. Allow me this single moment of solace. Why Mayora?! Why?! Where are you hiding Ana Kestuno?!" His face abruptly changed and Gintoki said in a uncharacteristic serious tone, " Why are we not function human beings? We both have the worst luck in love."

"Amen to that." Tsukuyo said. She rose and headed towards the cupboards, pulling out a bottle of vintage wine. " I said no more alcohol but I feel that unlucky souls like us deserve a glass or two."

"Bring two big glasses." Gintoki said in utter agreement. " We'll need it." It was only some wine after all. A little wine before bed never hurt, honestly.

* * *

**Hmmm, I guess things are happening, I hope to advance their personal relationship in the next few chapters. We'll see where my writing leads me. Thank you all for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, this chapter is a beast! Serious stuff is going down, beware. I want to again thank all my readers for their love, its much appreciated!**

**Ok, now another question and answer.**

**No Tsukuyo is not a virgin, she's got some experience under her belt ;)**

**And about Hijikata, I am taking a lot of personal liberties with him here. Nonetheless, I feel that if everything in the universe had worked out right in the original Gintama world, then Gintoki and Hijikata could have become good friends. I can sense the bromance in the air for those two. Also, as a reviewer mentioned, if Hijikata was as stoic to Gintoki in this story as he was in the original then where would be the fun in that. **

**Also, some characters may pop up now or then but right now the leading line up is just Gintoki and Tsukuyo. Ill probably throw more OCs in the fic that dont play that large a role, the plot has to get moving somehow! **

**End of rant! Enjoy the chapter guys!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

A swarm of bodies migrated towards the subway door; a chaotic yet routine part of any morning commute. The body heat emanating from the crowd caused Gintoki to sweat in his hastily thrown on dress shirt and slacks, yesterday's lack of peaceful did not help his mood either. He felt groggy and exhausted, an awful condition to be attending work in. He reclined in his hard won subway seat and leaned his head against the glass window of the cart. In hindsight he foresaw this outcome, anyone with half a brain would know that drinking the night before work was a terrible mistake. He and the violent woman only intended to wallow away their misery of single-hood with a single glass of wine but that glass soon turned into the whole bottle. And did you know that the violent woman hid a stash of vintage wine in the drawers beneath her sink? Well she did and it is very well stocked. Mental note to self, he needed to buy an impenetrable lock for that drawer. Alcohol was too dangerous for them, it always led to something more and a boatload of regret in the mornings. Call him old fashioned but good old Gintoki sensei was a firm believer in monotonous relationships. Although there was no other women in his life sadly besides Otose and his students, the concept of sleeping around with a woman he was not dating somehow bothered his sense of morality. Gintoki closed his eyes for a brief moment; this wasn't a topic to think about on the train ride to school. He wondered if the violent woman ever thought about this like him.

* * *

Turning on his laptop, Gintoki opened a word document and pretended to edit some documents for his next lecture. Truth be told he wanted to do nothing more than take a nap, the next best thing though was to take it easy and fake working. He felt the guiltiness of wasting tax payer dollars, as Kagura frequently liked to say, but it was only for an hour! Technically his prep period could be spent however he liked, and if he wanted to spend the hour doing absolutely nothing in the teacher's lounge then so be it! But there to disturb his peace, per usual, was Kagura. She entered with the fury of a storm, the door banging open loudly. Luckily no other teachers were in the lounge.

"Sheesh, Kagura, why can't you just come in like a normal human being."

She puffed her cheeks like an angered chipmunk, " Whatcha tryna say, Gin-chan?!"

He yawned, " That you're a punk. Now shoo Kagura, your Gin-chan is trying to get some work done here."

"Liar! I can tell that you're just going to take a nap when no one's looking!"

Bulls eyes, how the girl was so accurate in her guess would forever be a mystery to him. "I can't really say you're wrong but it's not proper to question a teacher like that! And why are you here anyways?! It seems like whenever there's a scene in the teacher's lounge you and Sofa-kun show up out of nowhere!"

"That's not true Gin-chan, the sadist isn't here now!"

"You should have just said you missed me, China, no need to act like a tsundere." Okita said as he strolled in with an armful of papers. Similar to how Kagura seemed to appear whenever Gintoki was lazing around in the teacher's lounge, Okita appeared, with a copious amount of papers in his hands, whenever both Gintoki and Kagura were together.

"Speak of the devil, Sofa-kun!"

"It's Sougo, Danna." He answered more apathetically than usual. Gintoki kept his thoughts to himself though.

"And it's Sataka-sensei, Sourouichi. Why you here by the way? I know that Kagura's a delinquent that skips class" he said pointing to the slightly peeved female," but you seem more the model student type."

Okita loudly set the papers on the edge of Gintoki's desk, " Did you forget that I'm the student council president? I actually have work that needs to be done." He said, the hint of malice in his voice not unnoticed.

"Only because all the girls voted for him! He won based on popularity not skill, Gin-chan, don't be fooled!"

Okita turned to Kagura and gave her a sly smile, " No need to hide your jealousy, acting tsundere like usual."

Kagura began ranting incoherently about her hatred towards him, every so often throwing in a "go die asshole!" Okita barely reacted to her long list of insults and death threats. He finished listening to her continuous three minute spiel and then nonchalantly said goodbye and left.

"Didn't Sofa-kun seem off to you, Kagura?" Gintoki said as the door closed behind Okita.

Kagura pulled a chair from a nearby desk towards her. " Hmm," she said pondering the sadist's actions, "he didn't insult me back today, that's odd. He usually ends our fights by calling me a gluttonous monster."

Gintoki was at a loss of how to react, " Your Spartan form of love is really messed up, I hope you know that, Kagura."

"We're not dating Gin-chan!"

He gave her a sly smile. " I never said you were but if you're denying it that tenaciously then something must be going on between you two. Just be smart about it. I don't want to see you hurt, Sofa-kun seems like a total player."

She scoffed, "Takes one to know one Gin-chan. I heard you went on a date with Anego. How dare you?! You already have Tsukky-nee and now you're committing adultery with Angeo?! What a deplorable man you are Gin-chan!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Stop right there." He said to Kagura, clearly taken aback. " I don't know how you heard about the date but please don't go spreading rumors that could hurt my already tarnished reputation. And for your information, I thought I was going on a date with a Ana Ketsuna look alike, not Shinpachi's sister. Also who taught you those words?! I am in no way committing adultery, I'm not even together with that violent woman! If you're going to point fingers than blame her too! She went on a date with the Mayora!"

Kagura almost fell out of her chair from the shock. " What?! Mayora went on a date?! You mean that stick up his bum Hijikata that papi works with?!"

" There isn't any other mayonnaise loving, stickler for the rules, stoic faced man I know that fits that description." Gintoki was surprised that Kagura knew of Hijikata's existence. It did make sense though, her father was a detective that worked closely with the police department, but why did it matter who the mayonnaise lover dated? Hijikata was a much of a bachelor as Gintoki, the man needed some romance in his loveless life.

"Gin-chan you imbecile!" she said now standing up. Gintoki really needed to find out who was teaching Kagura all these new words, a good scolding was awaiting them. " How could you set up Hijikata with Tsukky-nee when he obviously is still in love with another woman?!"

Gintoki rubbed his temple, why was it that migraines followed every visit made by Kagura? " I really don't know what you're getting at, Kagura. Gin-chan is tired so explain it to me in simple terms. Who is this other woman that the Mayora has? Last time I checked he was the president of single town."

"Gosh, you really know nothing."

"Thanks, Kagura, thanks for pointing out the obvious." He said a bit frustrated. The girl better get to her point soon, his hour prep ended in 30 minutes.

Her face suddenly lit up, " I know why the sadist was mad at you, Gin-chan." He gestured for her to continue. Gintoki barely understood the minds of grown men, pubescent males he understood even less. For all he knew, Sourourichi-kun could have been PMSing, the hormones run most strongly while as a teenager." He must have found out that you set Hijikata up! And that's a big no-no because the woman who was hurt most by Hijikata was his sister, Mitsuba."

"Hurt most by? They broke up by the sound of it."

Kagura shook her head," Mitsuba still loves him, she always did and always will."

"I don't get it then. So the Mayora broke up with her?" Relationship drama always went right over his head.

"Gin-chan, Mitsuba is died. She died last year of lung cancer."

That stunned him into silence. He honestly never knew. He and Hijikata have been casual friends for years, often meeting at the restaurant. Gintoki vaguely knew the existence of a woman a few years back but Hijikata rarely mentioned his personal life, being the extremely private person he is. Gintoki also was not the type to pry, therefore the mystery of the woman was ended by the simple conclusion that the relationship did not work out.

" Mayora broke up with her as she was dying? He cant be that heartless, he's a stick in the mud but not an inconsiderate monster."

" I don't know the full story myself but according to the bits and pieces I've heard from Sadist I can only say that its complicated. Mistuba had been sickly her whole life but the cancer was a new development, one that happened after the separation."

"Was it him?"

She nodded. " Hijikata didn't think he could provide Mistuba the happiness she needed. He worked long hours and could not care for her properly. Sadist said that Hijikata was an idiot because his sister never cared about any of that, she loved him for the sake of love. I heard that they were actually planning on getting married, until that is, Hijikata broke it off for the "better". He broke her heart and his own."

He stared at Kagura is disbelief, he never knew the Hijikata had been in such a serious relationship."Did Sofa-kun's sister ever tell him about her cancer?"

Kagura shook her head again. " I think she realized that if she told him then he would have came back to her. But that would mean tying him to a dying woman, to a dying love. Its quite tragic when you think about it. That's why Sadist can never forgive Hijikata. He could have stayed with her, he loved her and she loved him, but in the end Mitsuba died alone."

Gintoki felt a tear forming. " Awhh god Kagura! Why did you have to tell me such a sad story?! Now your Gin-chan is going to cry for that unlucky mayonnaise freak. He never mentioned her, and I don't think he ever will, but I wished he had in the past. If I would have been able to change his mind then do you think that his love would have ended differently?"

"I don't know Gin-chan. Love is a fleeting thing. We do not appreciate its brevity. Seize the day it seems the message is. It is better to have loved than to regret never have loved at all."

Perhaps Gintoki did not need to hunt down the person teaching Kagura these new words. She could not have expressed Hijikata's story any better. " Amen to that. No regrets, Kagura. And I mean the both of us."

* * *

"What's all of this, Gintoki?" Tsukuyo said as she spotted the table full of beautifully prepared Japanese dishes. Her favorites, grilled mackerel, pickled radishes, miso soup and a plethora of other items. " Are you craving Japanese food today?"

Gintoki finished placing the last item, two bowls of freshly scooped white rice, onto the table. " Not in particular but I know that you really like Japanese food. I thought it would be a kind gesture, I did get off work early today."

Tsukuyo slide her blaze onto the back of the chair. " That's very sweet of you, Gintoki." She gave him a curious glare, " So what's the catch. Did you get sued for committing lecherous deeds in public and now you need an attorney to defend you?"

He laughed, not even offended by her words. " There is no catch, I just wanted to do something nice once in a while. I'm not that bad of a human being you know, that's why I wasn't sued today but thanks for offering to defend me in court."

"I wasn't quite offering but I would if necessary."

"You're a real bro, violent woman."

Tsukuyo chuckled as she reached for her chopsticks. " You're welcome, Gintoki. And I really do appreciate this. Its very nice."

Gintoki reached for his own chopsticks. " I heard a story today that made me reevaluate life a bit."

"What was the moral of the story, pray tell dear sir?" She said in between bites of her rice.

" To not regret. And I am not regretting this dinner with you, or any of the dinners we've had. And I am regretting less and less the situation your mother had put us through."

Tsukuyo held her bowl mid-air. " Are you?"

He nodded his head.

She flushed a bright red, " I…"

Gintoki, seeing her hesitation, laughed. " Don't worry too much about it, violent woman. I just want to get that off my back and now I can die happily. Enjoy the food before it gets cold."

Tsukuyo still held her bowl mid-air, deep in thought. The gears of her mind were grinding, she was still trying to comprehend the situation. " I'm sorry Gintoki that I cant give you an answer right now." She set how bowl down and stood up. " I need to clear my head."

Gintoki gestured for her to sit back down. " Really, violent woman, don't take what I said to heart. I was just going with the flow. This wont change anything so just sit back down." But this already changed everything. Tsukuyo didn't know what to think. Her initial reaction had been to blurt out a yes to the unasked question, and that fact alone scared her. She had wanted to accept his confession. Her, accept a declaration of love?! She must be drunk.

"I'll be back by midnight, Gintoki. I really just need a quick walk."

"But…."

She grabbed her coat and sprinted for the door, " I'll be back by midnight!" she shouted on the way out. With a specific destination already in mind Tsukuyo hailed for a cab.

"Yoshiwara please." She said to the elderly cab driver.

* * *

Hinowa hummed to the tune playing on the television. Shota was jovially watching an anime while she lounged on the sofa with a romance paperback in her hands; it was a typical Monday evening. Hearing the door bell ring once, then twice in quick succession caused Hinowa to break away from her novel. She glanced at Shota in mild surprise. The seven year old boy shrugged his shoulders.

"I was not expecting any guests this late, Shota." She said as she rose and headed for the door. The door bell rang for a third time. Hinowa gently pushed the metal door open to discover a disheveled looking Tsukuyo.

"Oh my." She said, " What a surprise Tsukuyo, come in come in." The flushed woman entered promptly. Her blonde hair was in disarray and she was panting like a marathon runner. " Did you run here?" Hinowa asked her friend, confused beyond words. Tsukuyo, the epitome of composure, looked like jogged the ten miles from her apartment to Hinowa's apartment in Yoshiwara.

The blonde shook her head, " Cab….. then stairs." She heaved out, still short on breath. Hinowa lead Tsukuyo to the dining room table, fetching a glass of water for her friend in the process. The blonde graciously accepted.

" Hi Tsukuyo-neechan!" Shota said waving from the living room. He rose to walk over but Hinowa crossed the apartment in a few short strides to her son.

" Now Shota." She said in her authoritative mother voice. " The adults are going to have a serious conversation, will you be a good boy and watch tv over here?"

Shota did not understand why his mother forbid him from greeting Tsukuyo but the child complied regardless. He could hug his Tsukuyo-neechan another day. " Ok, mom." Hinowa smiled at her son as he returned to watching Kamen Rider while she returned to her less disheveled friend.

She sat down in the chair next to Tsukuyo. " Did something happen?"

Tsukuyo stared at her with wide eyes,like a deer caught in headlights. " He said it."

Hinowa stared back, confused. " Please, Tsukuyo, you must elaborate a bit more."

The blonde inhaled a deep breath, hesitating to even repeat the words, " He confessed. While not explicitly, but nonetheless he did."

"Do you mean Gintoki? And you're still not speaking coherently. What did he say?"

She took another deep breath, " He made me a really nice dinner and then I joked with him saying that it was so weird that he was doing this even though it was my turn to cook and all but then he said that he's reevaluating life and that he doesn't want to regret and that this was apart of him not regretting and that he doesn't regret my mothers intervention in forcing us to life together and basically I was like are you saying that you like me but I didn't say it in those exact words but he knew what I was talking about and he said yes but I didn't know how to answer his question even though I actually did know what my answer was and then I panicked and her I am." She finished her infinitely spanning sentence, completely out of breath.

Hinowa, nonetheless, understood every word her friend said, she placed her hand gently over Tsukuyo's. " Oh sweetie, you don't need to be afraid of love. It may come knocking at an inconvenient time but you must face it head on. "

"But, Hinowa, you know how I am. I am so afraid." She said those last words in a whisper.

The raven haired woman squeezed her friend's hand reassuringly. " How do you feel about him then?"

" I don't know. I thought I hated him but I am even beginning to doubt that. I'm not sure of anything."

" True loves course never did run smooth." She said with a tight smile." But what is your heart telling you, Tsukuyo?"

The blond lowered her head to the table. " My initial reaction wasn't to say no, and that's what scares me. I almost said yes, Hinowa, I almost agreed to fall in love again." Her eyes were trembling and Hinowa tried her best to sooth her friend by affectionately patting her hand.

" We do not agree to many things in our life, especially falling in love. I think you already did, Tsukuyo."

Her face drained of all color, " I can't, not after him."

"Tsukuyo, you should not let one bad love ruin your perception of romance forever. Takeshi was an awful man, don't compare Gintoki to that scoundrel. He ripped your heart out and then stomped on it without a care. He's the worst kind of man possible."

"And yet I almost married him." She said with a bitter laugh.

"But Gintoki is different." Hinowa pushed back her seat to stand, " Lets make a list then. I think its helpful to have things written down so that our thoughts can be organized." She grabbed a pen and paper from a nearby desk. " Tell me all the good and the bad about Gintoki."

"There's going to be a lot of bad things then." Tsukuyo mumbled.

Hinowa smiled, " You'll be surprised. Get writing."

Tsukuyo began with the bad, she scribbled down first and foremost that he was lazy. He was a bum, he read too much manga, he was sometimes rude, he was lazy, he was lazy! But other than that main point Tsukuyo could not think of any defining negative traits. Gintoki, in actuality, was not even that lazy. He woke up early to arrive at school before his students, he surprising was never late for work He also rarely slept in too extremely on the weekends, waking up at a sensible time, around 9 or 10, and then began doing household chores. Tsukuyo attest to his procrastination but in the end he still did what was required. Also, he cooked her breakfast, prepared her lunch, and even made dinner more often than she would like to admit. And while she constantly called him a lecherous man, his students genuinely liked him, that should be a reflection of the type of man his truly is. Kagura also adores him, even if she won't admit it herself. The more Tsukuyo thought about it, the more her own stupidity dawned upon her. She had fallen for him long ago.

Tsukuyo banged her head on the table." I'm an idiot."

Hinowa smiled at her friend's epiphany. " Sometimes we don't see the things directly in front of us. It takes a little push before everything becomes clear. Now don't you have somewhere to be?"

Tsukuyo bolted upwards, " More so than ever." She hugged her friend, " Thanks for everything, Hinowa. You're always there when I really need you."

Hinowa gently patted her back, " Good luck, and don't be afraid of the risks, sometimes its well worth it."

"I think this one is." Tsukuyo said as she head towards the door, waving goodbye to both Hinowa and Shota.

After Tsukuyo's departure Shota turned to his mother, " Does that mean I will be getting a nii-chan soon?"

Hinowa chuckles, " That all depends on your Tsukuyo-neechan but I believe it will be a reality in the near future."

* * *

The clock read 12, and while Gintoki knew that Tsukuyo had simply been stating an arbitrary time during dinner, he could not help but feel anxious. In hindsight Gintoki could have confessed in a better manner but he really was going with the flow. It came out unintentionally but he had no regrets. The sincerity behind his confession still holds true. When did he even start liking the violent woman? He repeatedly told himself, like a mantra, that he would never date a violent woman. Well, here he was, in love with a violent woman. His life consisted of these cruel ironies. The more he thought about it though, the more he realized that Tsukuyo wasn't really that violent. She had a temper and would lash back if provoked but otherwise she was a calm person. And no matter how much he called her uptight, Tsukuyo was a very laid back person. She didn't care what you did as long as it did not directly impact her. She did not care that he had a JUMP addiction or that he consumed sugar like water, although she warned him of the looming prospect of diabetes. And his unhealthy obsession with Ana Kestuno did not faze her in the least; she said that it was his decision to fantasize about whoever he wanted. Let's not mention the one time she found the porn he confiscated from his students in his pile of books, she just told him to be more discrete about it. She gave him his space while still being within arms reach, and the thought of being with her forever did not seem all that bad. He could joke with her without getting slapped and she never made it awkward even after their two one night stands. When had he fallen this hard? Gintoki did not know.

From the bedroom Gintoki heard the front door open and close in a hurry, and then the sound of equally hurried footsteps to the bedroom. She then appeared, the woman Gintoki was just thinking about, with her face flushed red and heaving.

"Are you…." His words were cut short as Tsukuyo tackled from position on the bed. She hoisted herself up and held onto his shoulder while she sat in a straddling position. Tsukuyo kissed him hard, taking Gintoki aback, but soon he melted into the kiss, only breaking apart to breath.

" Are you drunk?" he asked, mistaking the redness in her face as the effect of alcohol.

"I've never been more sober in my life, Gintoki." She leaned down for another kiss. Gintoki could hardly complain about this treatment but it just wasn't right. He couldn't believe that he was cockblocking himself but he gently pushed Tsukuyo away after a few minutes.

" Im going to get the wrong idea, violent woman, if you keep doing this. Are you definitely sure you're not drunk?'

Tsukuyo laughed, " I'm positive that I'm not drunk, Gintoki. My head is clearer than ever. And there is no wrong idea to get because I say yes to your question earlier."

"Do you mean…?"

She gave him a peck on the lips, " Gintoki, I like you. Now stop cockblocking yourself."

She was something alright, Gintoki had no words to describe this woman. But he didn't need words. He wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her close, " Well I don't want to get sue so I guess I'll do as I'm told."

"What a masochist you are." She said laughing.

"It takes a very special kind of woman to put me in my place, after all. I think I may just have a secret thing for violent women."

He leaned in for the kiss, a slower and more affectionate kiss. Gintoki had no regrets.

* * *

**That was a lot of plot development to force down your throats. Im sorry if things seem a bit rushed but I feel as though love, well, just happens. None of that love at first sight stuff, don't get me wrong I love those types of stories as well but for this story I feel as though a mutual respect form of love is most appropriate. It funny, in my opinion. Gintoki and Tsukuyo were looking for every different things in a partner. Tsukuyo wanted someone she could rely on, it makes sense since shes such an independent woman, and Gintoki wanted a woman who could be a lover and a friend. I could never imagine Gintoki with a very possessive woman, he is a freerange sort of man, en mi opinion. Also, I had been contemplating for a very long time whether to make Mitsuba alive or dead, when I say contemplate, I mean I really thought about it. I feel so bad for not allowing Hijikata to even get a break in this story but I felt the need to have Mitsuba stay dead. For the sake of the plot I apologize to Hijikata! But I have something in store for him, I didn't just leave him there to bleed dry! Otherwise thank you all for reading this beast of a chapter! Happy late Thanksgiving everyone and see you next month!**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter was so painful to write, like stabbing myself in the leg would have hurt less, well that's obviously an exaggeration but nonetheless this chapter caused me much turmoil. I wrote it three different times, three times! The plot has gotten to that awkward midway point where things should be coming together yet it not, long story short, the writer's block is strong in this one. Enough rambling, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Tsukuyo weaved through the mass of coat clad bodies, the early morning rush in full throttle. She briskly walked, both hands in her pocket and her head down to avoid the gush of biting February wind. It nipped at her exposed neck, sending a shiver down her spine. The blonde quicken her step, the soaring skyscraper a few feet away her destination. She exchanged nods with the elderly security guard in front, a man she familiarized herself with upon her many visits here, and entered through the glass sliding doors into the police department headquarters. A surge of hot air welcomed her as she bee lined for the elevator. Unbuttoning her trench coat to accommodate to the difference in temperature, Tsukuyo paid no mind to the other person in the elevator as she continued to adjust her wardrobe.

"What floor?" Asked a husky voice.

"Ten." she said still fiddling with her coat. The elevator door closed and the lift started to move. "Thank you." She said afterwards, turning towards the man. Her face immediately scrunched into a scowl. "I actually take that back."

" It's nice to see you too, Tsukuyo." Said the raven haired man clad in a freshly pressed suit. Armani, obviously, he never settled for anything less.

The blonde crossed her arms, her glare burning with hatred. " Can't say the same, Takeshi. Frankly I was hoping that I would never have to set eyes on your sorry self ever again."

He sighed, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "Can't we at least be civil with one another?".

"No." She snapped, tapping her heels impatiently as the elevator continued its slow crawl upwards.

"Come on, Tsukuyo. Let bygones be bygones. We'll have to work with each other one of these days, let's pretend to at least get along."

Pretend to get along? What kind of person did he take her for. " Fuck you, Takeshi. I have no intention of EVER getting along with you. Fuck you and your cheating ass from here to hell!" She was practically snarling now. He cheated on her, broke their engagement, used her for her connections, and he still expected her to be anything but vicious with him?!

" I never knew you to be such a petty person."

"Funny isn't it? You think you know someone after all these years but then you find out their true colors. You never really knew much about me anyways." She said grimly. Did Takeshi even know her favorite color? He probably didn't. The only thing the man cared about was himself, a narcissist till the end. She knew his favorite color though, royal purple, that was the color she chose for every one of his gifts. Her blood boiled whenever the thought of him came up. She had been so stupid, so blind and in love, unsuspecting that the man of her dreams was using her, treating her like some disposable garden tool. But she knew none the better, love had blinded Tsukuyo to all of Takeshi's misdeeds. She had been such a fool for all those years, but not anymore. Never would she be that fool again.

The elevator door finally opened. She took a step out, " Tell Hotoru I still remember her. How could I ever forget the conniving little vixen, but you weren't any better either. Had me fooled, I played right into that little trap of yours." She stuck up her middle finger. " You don't even need to send me a courtesy invite to the wedding. I would just burn it anyways." With that the doors closed, leaving him with his mouth agape in shock.

"Consider my good fortune that I'm not on your bad side." Said Hijikata from the sidelines. He had just so happened to hear that last biting remark.

"He's, a dog, and he got the treatment that a dog deserved. I don't feel bad at all." The blonde said almost proudly.

" You most likely had every right to be mad. You said things I would never be able to." Hijikata said somberly, his thoughts drifting towards the memory of a certain sand haired woman and all the things he left unsaid.

Tsukuyo cracked a grin," I very much doubt that a respectable man such as yourself would stick the middle finger to someone."

" Can't say it'll happen."

She laughed again." And swearing him off was not the greatest choice of judgment I have made but nonetheless I feel those 20lb off my shoulders now. You will have the chance to say what you need to, Hijikata-san. It really helps with easing the mind."

" An ease of mind would be greatly welcomed, but I do not think it will happen anytime soon." He mumbled to himself.

Tsukuyo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. " Is there something you would…." But she was cut off as Umibozu entered the hallway to usher them into the meeting room. She would have to finish their conversation another time. Maybe she'll ask Gintoki.

* * *

Gintoki sneezed. He rubbed his nose with his finger and pulled his jacket on tighter. What inhumane school has outside gym in the middle of February? Its torture! Torture! And to make it worse the usual gym teacher had to be sick today of all days, and of course the only teacher with a free prep period of course was only him.

"Are you okay, Gintoki-sensei?" Asked Soyo kindly, " it is very easy for people to get sick in this kind of weather."

Bless her kind soul, Gintoki happily smiled at Soyo the epitome of a model student.

"Dont worry about him, Soyo. Idiots don't catch colds." said Kagura confidently. Gintoki's smile drooped into a frown. And then there was the friend, the bad seedling that corrupts the good ones. Why couldn't Kagura be more like Soyo? Then his life would be that much easier, no more taunting, no more back talk, just peace. It was such a simple yet unattainable dream for him.

" I am not quite sure about that, Kagura-chan." Said her friend with a slight chuckle.

Gintoki scoffed, " Only an idiot can come up with nonsense like that."

"You called me an idiot Gin-chan! That's sexual harassment!" See bad seedling, that's exactly what Kagura was!

"Kagura-chan, I am also not quite sure about that either."

Gintoki quickly placed a hand over the Yato's mouth." Stop saying things that you clearly don't understand!" He said sternly. Where on earth was she learning these words, sofa-kun? It must be him. She pried his hand from her mouth and wiped it exaggeratedly.

" Nah ugh, Gin-chan! I totally know what I'm saying. It's like how you and Tsuky-nee are living together!" Gintoki stared at the girl in disbelief, " See! I know a lot of things!" He wanted to murder this girl in cold blood right now. No amount of patience could quell the frustration building inside of him, waiting to burst like a geyser.

And then another pesky one came running over. Gitnoki grimaced at the sight of Sarutobi Ayame, the mauve haired bespectacled female who he needed to get a restraining order against. "What?! How could you do this to me Gintoki?! I thought we has something real?!" she cried upon hearing the news of this "other woman" in her beloved Gintoki's life.

He rolled his eyes." Its Sakata-sensei to you Sarutobi-san. And please stop creating misunderstandings. We are strictly teacher and student, nothing more or less!"

"In my eyes we were a thing! Are you going deny our chemistry?!"

"What chemistry?! You mean the one time you stalked me to my house and I had to call the police? That's not chemistry, it's a felony!" This girl was insane, like actually mentally unstable insane. Not only did she think that her soul mate was Gintoki but she also acted on these illogical feelings of hers. " Say something Kagura! Can't you see your poor Gin-chan is in trouble!"

"Yeah Sa-chan! Gin-chan can't be yours! He already has Tsuky-nee!" The Yato shouted for the rest of the class to hear.

Sa-chan slyly glared at Gintoki." And exactly who is this Tsukyy woman? My rival in love?"

This woman's mind was something else alright, rival in love his ass! "She's my girlfriend." Gintoki said matter of fact. Kagura gasped.

"Like you guys are officially official?!"

" Guess you can say that." He shrugged.

"Oh my gerrrrdddsss Soyo!" Kagura shook her friend ecstatically. " It happened! It happened! Does this mean I can be your flower girl at the wedding?"

Soyo smiled at her friend, " That's not how it works either, Kagura-chan."

"And hold your horses Kagura, who said that there's a wedding?" This conversation escalated quickly, one second it was about him not catching a cold and now marriage?! They needed to push the breaks on this, now.

"Yeah, who said there's going to be a wedding?"

" Keep out of this Sarutobi."

" But gintoki..." Sa-chan whined sensually. Gintoki wanted to gag and then report her to the authorites for misconduct in public. There must be some law about public indecency; Sa-chan was the walking definition of that. He would have to ask Tsukuyo later.

" Sakata-sensei." He corrected her." Now get back to running, all of you!" He shouted.

Kagura clicked her tongue." No need to get your undies in a bunch, Gin-chan. We were just trying to have a nice conversation here.

"Go!" he shouted once more. The three girls scampered off, leaving Gintoki peeved per usual. Was anyone normal in this school?!

* * *

The sky had darkened and the glow of artificial lights illuminated the city by the time Gintoki left the school and Tsukuyo left the office. They came from opposite directions, both of them converging at the singular direction of home. It was ironic that Tsukuyo's apartment lied in the middle of both work places, like some sort of fate had influenced her into buying this particular unit in the endless sea of other better apartments.

Gintoki typically arrived home first however today it was coincidental, or perhaps fated as one may say, that their train's schedule's match perfectly, allowing the two of them to met. And they walked home in a comforting silence as the noise of the city more than compensated for their lack of words. Their hands would brush but neither of them would take the initiative to hold the other, and it felt like youth once more. What were they being shy for? They were past their heydays of blushing and fumblingly with how to express themselves, they both were grown adults and yet it felt like those innocent days of the past. Finally Gintoki intertwined his fingers with hers, allowing the warmth to sooth his wind chapped hands. Tsukuyo gave his hand a gentle squeeze, her eyes fixed straight ahead but the tint of pink on her cheeks did not go unnoticed by Gintoki. He knew she would deny it profusely, blaming it on the frigidness of the weather, and somehow he found that cute. She was not honest with herself; the usually confident and composed woman her colleagues knew was an only façade and he found that incredibly adorable. Gintoki smiled to himself as they continued their walk home in silence, hand in hand.

Tsukuyo made dinner that night, rice and some side dishes, a totally Tsukuyo-centric dinner. Gintoki offered to help but she graciously declined, the man shrugged, why reject her good will? He planted a light kiss on her forehead before returning to the living room, pulling out a stack of papers that needed to be graded. And Tsukuyo returned to her cooking, her mind wandering back to the events of today.

" Do you think I'm a petty person?" Tsukuyo abruptly asked Gintoki as they began eating.

He lowered his bowl and chopsticks, a serious expression plastered on his face. " You want me to answer truthfully, violent woman?"

She rolled her eyes, " Never mind. What was I thinking, asking _you_ of all people. You probably don't even know what petty means."

"Oiii." The man said feeling slightly insulted, "You want to start a fight missy?! We can tussle if you want?!"

She chuckled. Never underestimate Gintoki's ability to handle her sarcasm well. It was refreshing to no longer pretend, to no longer bite her tongue in fear of saying the wrong thing, no longer anyone to offend." Then the answer to my question, Gintoki?"

" I think everyone can be petty when they want to be. It all depends on the circumstances." He said after a moment's thought, "What happened?"

Tsukuyo set her own porcelain bowl down and started from the beginning. She briefly talked of Takeshi, of her blind one sided love, of his betrayal, of her own stupidity. With no expectation of confronting him again, an unrealistic expectation on her part, Tsukuyo was unpleasantly surprised when she saw him once again in the elevator. " I told him to fuck off and that I would burn his wedding invitation if he was dumb enough to send me one." She said with less confidence, the adrenaline having long died down.

Gintoki was wheezing."You're truly something." He said dying of laughter. His stomach began to ache from the amount of laughing induced by her truly one of a kind actions in the elevator. "Truly something. And so? Are you taking his words to heart then? You really shouldn't, once a scumbag always a scumbag. Take it from a bro, once a hoe always a hoe."

"Thanks for the life advice there, Gintoki. I'll make sure to hold those words close to heart."

He dismissively waved off her sarcastic remark. "I don't think what you did in the elevator was petty. It must be tiring always being the bigger person. It's okay to be selfish every once in a while. Was the breakup messy?"

Tsukuyo shook her head. "It never fully dawned on me that the relationship was over until the engagement party was cancelled, the ring returned, and the stares of pity began. By the time I realized we were completely through he was already going steady with that vixen and I just lost myself in a sea of paper work. I don't remember if I even cried." She said, leaving a bitter aftertaste at the mere thought of the past, "It's funny because I'm sure I thought he was the one, but not even one tear was shed for him."

"We lie to over selves all the times. Your brain was lying to your heart, constantly telling it that this was love when it wasn't. It was routine, it was stability." Gintoki kindly said, reaching over the table to hold her hand in his." I see it in my kids sometime. They think they're in love, they think this is the one only to be sadly mistaken later. How do you even know what love is at that age?"

"I still don't know what love is at my age. I thought I did, but I don't."

He shrugged." Neither do I, I guess, not many of us do. Except if you count Ana Ketsuno, because I know its true love with her."

Tsukuyo scoffed at him." And the conversation was just beginning to get deep, now you go and bring up the weatherwoman?" This fool, yet she could not but help finding his foolishness endearing.

"I swear Tsukuyo! If I wasn't dating you right now Ana Ketsuno and I would be frolicking in a meadow somewhere."

"So sorry to keep you from that dream, Gintoki, I won't be your cage, by all means, frolic as you may."

"Don't worry, violent woman, I won't be leaving you anytime soon." He gently squeezed her hand and said in a low whisper, "to be completely honest, I like you a tiny tiny bit more than Ana Ketsuno. That should means a lot considering I am her number one fan."

Tsukuyo laughed with that soothing lush voice of hers, causing him to begin laughing as well.

"I am honored that you like me more than Ana Ketsuno, my heart was beating with trepidation!"

"Correction, I love you." He said, the words effortlessly rolling off his tongue. His mind did not even comprehend what he said till it was already too late.

Tsukuyo's mind did the same. She instinctively answered with a, " Love you too."

They stared at each other wide eyed; both shocked at their declaration of love for one another. Neither of them could admit to loving another so easily and yet it happened with such casual ease, as if they had already said it to each other a thousand times, a million times. Silence sat for only a second before they both again burst into laughter.

It was awkward and yet so right. Their boisterous laughter filled the formerly quiet apartment, breathing life into the white walls, the plain beige couch, the too square and harsh dining room table. The apartment was finally breathing, like it was alive with the energy and joy radiating from the couple. With a few personal touches, a colorful house plant in the walkway and a wacky painting or two obviously picked out by Gintoki, it would finally be home, their home.

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**Guys, I have no idea what I'm writing anymore. I'm really just going with the flow of the story so please tell me if this is heading towards a cliff of no return. With that said I want to talk a little about this chapter. Takeshi is gone, he's not going to be seen again in this story besides in passing. I wanted to get some of Tsukuyo's back story out there, have Gintoki understand her a bit more. And I think its perfectly reasonable of her to treat her ex the way she did, Tsukuyo has the right like everyone else to be mad, shes not a robot without emotions. I was also trying to go for a first love but not really first love sort of vibe with Gintoki and Tsukuyo. They've loved and learned but this is different, like they've never met anyone quiet like each other and its new and scary and so uncharacteristic of them. Its as if their starting all over in the cruel game of love, being offered this clean slate and all. Well that's what I wanted to convey but here I am writing an explanation. Hopefully you guys could feel the rawness of first love, if not then I am sorry that my imagination is greater than my literary ability. Thanks for reading this rant and sticking with this story for a year. its been a whole year already! I hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Why is college so rough? Why (yes I am referring to you statistics and lab)? Luckily I'm not dead guys! Not yet anyways... aha I'm just being dramatic. Enough of my babbling though. Here is the latest installment to our duo's journey! Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER:I OWN NOTHING**

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On Tsukuyo's totem pole of priorities, impromtu Sunday visits to the store were at the very bottom. So how then (personally she could not grasp herself) did she end up standing in the plant aisle of Ikea with a shopping cart full of unnecessary knick knacks? Then she remembered the white lie Gintoki told her. It would be a quick trip he said. Attachment to technology is unhealthy, he said, step away from the laptop. Tsukuyo reasoned the benefits of briefly stepping away from her work, clearing her mind would allow her to return rejuvenated. A break would do her some good, a _short _break she meant. But here she stood, three hours deep into their grand shopping adventure. On a scale of one to how unamused she was, Tsukuyo would rank herself- on the verge of castrating a certain silver permed man. Gintoki acted like a child in a playground, running from aisle to aisle. Tsukuyo made a mental not to remind Gintoki that he turned 29 in two months. She leaned against the handle of the cart, watching the said man eye a plant keenly. Tilting her head to see better, Tsukuyo rolled her eyes as the terracotta pot come into view.

"You surely jest, Gintoki." The blonde said, disapproval lacing her voice. Tsukuyo crossed her arms and eyed the silver haired man, now pouting, with the scrutiny a mother often expressed towards the antics of a child. "We are not getting a chia pet because it, quote, 'is the greatest invention to grace mankind since strawberry milk.' I want to try and leave this store with a shred of dignity."

Gintoki hugged the chia pet protectively, afraid the violent woman would snatch the green spongebob shaped bundle of perfection from his grasp, he needed to protect his baby! " But violent woman!" He whined. " You can't just not buy a chia pet when you see one!" Gintoki concluded that a fundamental portion of Tsukuyo's brain was nonfunctional, anyone with half df a mind would buy the chia pet, obviously. The violent woman failed to see the joys derived through the ownership a chia pet. Akin to watching a baby grow up, a sentimental attachment is formed between plant and man; an unbreakable bond, he would say. With tender love and much care (basically an adequate amount of watering and the bare minimum amount of sunlight) his bundle of joy would literally bloom into a lush valley of greenery. Oh they grow up so fast!

"Plants will not become our children, Gintoki. Buy a dog if you're craving affection." Tsukuyo said as if reading his thought.

"But violent woman!"

"For the last time we're are not going to buy a chia pet! Buy a cactus and name it Rodrigo for all I care but we are not bringing the monstrosity of that green whatever it is." She said waving her hands dramatically in the air for affect." into the house. Kapeesh?"

Gintoki lowered the chia pet sullenly," Fine, but we are getting the cactus named Rodrigo then. I am a firm believer in house plants and I will not allow this anti-anything photosynethsizing mindset of yours bring me down."

Tsukuyo sighed but nonetheless cracked a smile. " Fine." She said, clearly unable to argue with the illogical internal workings of Gintoki's mind. " Buy all the cacti you want, make it a cacti party while we're at it."

"Is this a challenge?" He said with a sly grin. " Let there be no complaints when the house is filled with lovely individually named succulents!" He exclaimed a bit too loudly for public decency. Tsukuyo shot him another glare but he disregarded it and continued his rant. "I think I want to find a tiny little cactus and name it Paco. I always wanted a Paco in my life. Or maybe I can name it Naruto, I have a soft spot for tragic backstories."

Pushing the half-filled cart forward, an assortment of vases and bins accounting for a majority of their soon to be purchase, Tsukuyo picked up a small teracota potted cactus with a blossoming flower from the nearby shelf." We will get one. Do you hear me. ONE."

"Yes mom, I hear you loud and clear." Gintoki said mockingly as he slide his hand into hers.

Tsukuyo laughed. " I may be old but I'm not that old? Where is Otose at moments like these?"

" Its your lucky day then, she's right there." He said pointing to the elderly woman blatantly staring at them from the end of the aisle. Was he surprised? Not really. At this point in his life, largely influences by the series of unfortunate events that plagued him, Gintoki gave up all hope that the gods would shine favorable upon him. He began walking towards Otose . " Well it looks like today is the day we address the elephant in the room. Ready, violent woman?"

"What if I'm not." She said, her mind racing to find a solution to their dilemma. To tell or not to tell? Where was a coin when you needed it?!

"You better be, here she comes." He said, squeezing her hand reassuring. " Don't worry. Otose may look Satan, and honestly acts like him too. "Gintoki quietly mumbled," But she's a perfectly civil woman. I think."

Tsukuyo gripped Gintoki's hand tightly. Address the elephant in the room? More like a goddamn Mastodon. Around Gintoki she was fine, she was calm, happy actually, but Tsukuyo had yet come to terms with the truth. The thought of being in love still caused her throat to close up, as if the air was suddenly sucked away and she was left breathless. Right now she was suffocating. What did she fear? Confrontation perhaps, afterall confronting potential in-laws would scare even the most fearless of souls. But truly Tsukuyo knew the answer to be a matter of the heart. She feared herself most. "Did I ever tell you how terrible you are at comforting others?"

"No, not explicitly." He said.

"Well now I am. I'll do the talking Gintoki. Just play it natural." Tsukuyo spuriously smiled. She could be a great liar when necessary. " It's a pleasure to see you, Otose-san." She said with a 90° bow to the older woman. Tskukuyo acted the image of an elegant and refined woman, the principles her mother, theoretically impossible, ingrained into the structure of her DNA,." How coincidental that we would meet you here."

Otose did not respond, instead choosing to scrutinize them with the intensity of her gaze. The lines around her mouth were prominent, evidence of years of frowning. And her eyes sharp, searching for a point of vulnerability.

The older woman finally turned towards Gintoki, crossing her arms, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Stop wasting money on useless things, Gintoki. If you want another plant." She said gesturing to the one he currently cradled. " Then come home and take the billions of the one you bought when you were younger. Saves me the hassle of watering them all the time."

"But."

"Stop being lazy. I know you're going say the house is too far. That's bullshit, come home and get your goddamn plants and put them in your new house instead of mine. Seems like your decorating fine, don't bother buying a coffee table, I have a spare one at home."

Tsukuyo glanced at Gintoki, trying to gage the situation. He shrugged, satan he mouthed.

"Are you not going to ask?"

The older woman pulled out an old fashioned smoking pipe. " It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. Just don't get pregnant before June, we want to at least try and make this a wholesome wedding but that's more of Reiko's philosophy not mine."

"You're not allowed to smoke in here." Tsukuyo said, the only coherent thought that came to mind.

Otose smirked. " Never stopped me before. Rules are meant to be broken."

"But…."

"You're just like Reiko." Otose said with an even deeper frown. " Don't let the rules tie you down. You should do what YOU want sometimes."

"What?"

"Society is not always right. Remember that."

Frustration boiled in Tsukuyo, " What do you know about society and its rules?"

"More than you would think."

Otose again turned to Gintoki." Don't fuck this up boy."

Gintoki laughed. " I hear you loud and clear, Otose. I promise I won't."

Gintoki walked Otose back to her shopping cart, leaving Tsukuyo speechless. The blonde ran a hand through her hair in frustration. What did Otose know about rules? She knew nothing, not about rules, not about stability, and definitely not about her mother.

"First lesson in dealing with Otose. Never take anything she says to heart. You hear that violent woman." Gintoki said, sensing Tsukuyo's distressed state. " Let's go home. We can go furniture hunting another day, another time."

Tsukuyo stood there unresponsive, her mind racing with memories of the past. Thought of her mother stood out most vividly. She clenched her fists tighter, the urge to punch a wall overcoming her. " I need a moment to myself, Gintoki. I'll meet you at home."

He leaned down, delivering a peck to the cheek. " Okay, come home when you're ready."

She nodded her head. " Yeah, home."

99999

It was still dark when she opened her eyes. At this point Tsukuyo had become accustomed to the darkness. She often rose before the breaking of dawn in order to arrive early at the office. However, today's darkness was of a different type, she knew it to be the sort of black that accompanied the dead of night. Silence surround her, not a sound- not of early morning traffic nor the soft chirping of birds- could be heard. Tsukuyo quietly hoisted herself into a sitting position. She ran her hand lethargically through her unkempt blond locks. An unpleasant dream plagued her tonight, or rather a long forgotten bitter memory it could be called. In the dream she was seven again, and at that age Tsukuyo had yet to fully grasp the complexity of her parent's relationship. For those first few years Tsukuyo had noticed no abnormalities in her family dynamics. Her father, although a bit distant in the expression of his love, treated her kindly and with a tenderness all fathers bestowed upon their child. Her mother was a stay at home-wife who coddled her with attention, albeit with an iron fist. There wasn't much to question in that sense, both her parents loved her, doted on her constantly, what more did a child need? Even though her father often traveled, leaving for long stretches of time, overall Tsukuyo was content with the company of her mother and the housekeeper. But the brevity of childhood ignorance fades and the truth relieves itself, that was the bitter memory that plagued her tonight.

It had been late, well past midnight and well past Tsukuyo's bed time. Being the good girl she was, Tsukuyo promptly sleeps at 9, however, tonight she was roused awake by the fullness of her bladder. In the short trip from her room to the bathroom, she saw the dim lights of the parlor still shining, how odd. Curiosity taking over her better judgment, Tsukuyo peaked her head through the doorway to find her mother inelegantly slumped on the loveseat closest to the fireplace, a feature her western loving father insisted on installing in their home. Tsukuyo entered the room without a second thought.

"Are you okay, Mom?" she asked her silently glum mother with caution. Reiko was a stickler for proper etiquette, a lady's back should be as straight as a ruler as she would say, none of that unsightly slumping and slouching of the youth she often chided. But the woman sitting in the loveseat before her did exactly what her mother deplored. And she looked utterly beaten. A hollowness replaced Reiko's usual fierce gaze and the veins of the dark bags under her eyes bulged. She looked nothing like the mother Tsukuyo saw but a few hours ago. Reiko fixed her posture, sitting up straighter, and then abruptly pointed her index finger at the worried child.

"It's your fault that my life is like this!" she shouted, " Its your fault that my life is ruined! If only you hadn't been born!" she wailed, " You're the reason everything fell through the cracks, my career, my marriage, everything! Lament poor insufferable soul!"

Tsukuyo stood there petrified as her mother continued to shout incoherently at her. Her marriage? Her career? Not a word of it made sense to her young mind. Tears began welling.

" Why are you screaming? Did I do something wrong again?"

Upon seeing Tsukuyo cry, Reiko immediately reverted back to the façade of her composure. She immensely regretted the words that escaped her mouth. Enveloping Tsukuyo in a tight hug, Reiko gently began stroking her blond hair in an attempt to calm the wailing child.

" Mama is very sorry, Tsukuyo. I meant not a word of what I said. Frustration at your father got the best of me. This is a problem between your Papa and I, nothing for you to fret over."

Tsukuyo stopped crying for the moment, much to the joy of her mother. She nodded her head as if docilely accepting Reiko's explanation, but Tsukuyo wasn't dumb. There was something fundamentally wrong and their family was never quite the same again. Her family was broken, it had already been that way for a long time, only she had been too blind to noticed.

Gintoki stirred from his side of the bed. The silver haired man turned to face Tsukuyo and propped himself up with his elbow.

" Cant sleep?" He asked in between a yawn.

" Something like that. Bad dream, or memory I would call it." She said quietly, fearing to disturb the silence of the night.

"You wanna talk about it? I'm a pretty good listener, and I even took a couple Psychology classes in college. I'm half way there in terms of being a psychiatrist."

She rolled her eyes at him. " And I took a couple of Yoga classes, does that make me a Yoga teacher?" she said with a smile.

" I say you're golden. Quit your fancy job at the law firm and become a Yoga instructor, that's where the real money is at. And throw in health guru while you're at it, no one will know." Gintoki hoisted himself into a sitting position. He slide his hand into hers. " But seriously though, I'm here to listen if you need an ear." He interlocked their fingers, gazing into her eyes.

Tsukuyo leaned her head against his shoulder. " It's a long story, do you still want to listen?"

"Do I ever have a choice when it comes to the Hyakka women?" he playfully said, this earned him another slap on the arm.

"Well the dream was about my mother."

"What a terrifying nightmare. That woman haunts you both in the day and at night!" Gintoki said.

Tsukuyo gave him a small smile. " The dream was actually a memory from when I was younger. It was the one time my mother broke her fortified iron guard and lashed out at me. She said it was my fault that her life was ruined."

Gintoki wasn't smiling anymore. " Did you do something wrong?"

The blonde sighed, " I guess you can say my mistake was being born. A few years after the incident I found out the reason why my mother resented me. She used to be a very well regarded lawyer. Only 30 and already she was the Alpha of her firm. It was the golden life for her, her career was flourishing beyond bounds and her husband was an up and coming politician with a plethora of potential."

" But then you were born?"

"It was not my birth alone, but it was the tipping point. Before my birth my mother's career was only going up, everyone sang her praises, she was an idol, someone who was much loved. My father did not seem to share the same sentiments. Jealousy is an ugly thing, Gintoki, it consumes the heart and turns it black. My father was deathly jealous of his wife's success while he struggled to stay afloat in the political world."

"That's not Reiko's fault that his life wasn't all sunshine and puppies."

"Well to him it was. That's when the marriage started crumbling. My father came home less and less, deliberately distancing himself from his wife. And in my mother's last attempt to retain his affections she got pregnant with me." Tsukuyo took a moment to calm her nerves enough to continue. " She thought that a child would keep their rocky relationship grounded but instead it become her one true demise. He forced her to quit. My father offered her a choice, her career or her family. I know he did it out of spite and I still resent him to this day for it. My mother thought that choosing her family was the right choice, she thought it would bring her husband back. It didn't. My father liked me fine but his wounded pride never did heal and my mother still suffers the consequence today."

Gintoki gave her hand another reassuring squeeze. " What I don't understand is why she's forcing marriage on you then? Wasn't marriage what caused her downfall? I would think she rather have you climb the ranks and become the lawyer she did not have the chance to become."

Tsukuyo laughed, " You would think so but after living the life of a demoted house wife she realized benefits of being none the wiser. She always said that being too smart, especially for a girl, would work against me. I would rue the day I thought about more than the family or matters of the house. Don't question society, don't try to be beyond what they expect. Conform, conform. She changed so drastically from her former self, the days when she fought so valiantly in court for equality, for justice, faded into a long forgotten past. The expectations of society weighted her down ultimately." She said with a heavy heart. Reiko had been beyond her years back in the 70s. The chauvinist of the era, and the era itself, were not ready for a strong, independently fierce woman like her. Thus they broke, inside and out.

"That's horrible." Gintoki said, " She went through trial and tribulation and yet did not get her happy ending, they mentally broke her down. But, " his face consorted into a frown, " that still does not make it acceptable to fuel the primitive thinking of the older generations."

" But I know she said this to protect me. It's easier to follow the precedent then paving a new road. My mother says this out of firsthand experience. She failed in preventing me from becoming a lawyer though." The blonde said with a small smile, one indicative of her own personal victory. "That's why she's pushing marriage and children. Stop before you're too far ahead, the fall will hurt less, that is her current thought process. You would think that the woman would pair me with anything that had a Y chromosome but she is rather picky. You were recommended by Otose, that's why she further pushed this relationship. My mother just wants me to be happy like she never was but that only causes me greater unhappiness, ironic isn't it?'

Gintoki stared at her for a bit, " I had the old lady all wrong. I know everyone is fighting their own demons but I thought she was just crazy. I should apologize."

" She's still crazy though, that's not a lie." She said with a chuckle. It felt better to get that off her chest, like an invisible weight had been lifted. " I shouldn't resent her as much as I do but she needs to realize that what she is doing will only lead me down the same path of unhappiness as her. The intentions are in the right place but the method is wrong. And I am still angry at her for allowing my father to do such a thing. Choose your career of your family? Well fuck you, I chose both."

This time Gintoki let out a chuckle, " You really sound just like Otose. That woman always had an unbendable iron will, especially when her husband was alive."

"Are you referring to your father?"

He shook his head. "I'm actually adopted, basically picked off the streets like a stray. And I've never met her husband, he died before I had the grace of seeing the man who tamed the dame Otose."

"Oh." She quietly said. There was still so much to learn about each other, the surface was only beginning to be scratched, but it was a start, it was progress.

He waved her discomfort away, " Don't feel bad for me. I don't even feel bad for myself. Otose finding me stealing food from her husband's gravestone was the best thing that happened to me. I thought she would murder me for disrespecting her dead husband but instead she gave me a place to call home and a family, it's quite a touching story actually."

"Im so sorry, Gintoki, I never knew." She said sympathetically.

He shrugged, " Most people don't but most people probably don't know about your family situation either, there are some things better kept to oneself. However, seeing as its sharing-our-feelings-time, I'll let it slide."  
Tsukuyo slapped him on the arm again, " I wonder how Otose tolerated you as a child."

"I could say the same, violent woman." He said with a grin. Tsukuyo went silent for a moment, the smile fading from her face and a sternness replacing it.

"Thank you, Gintoki, really."

" For what?"

"For listening to me."

He slide his hand into hers, " You know, I'm actually not that bad of a guy, no matter how I seem, and I am always more than willing to lend an ear to a kindred soul." The blonde knew, she knew too well his kindness.

Tsukuyo rested her head on his chest, feeling the palpitation of his heart. It was steady, the rhythm resonating clearly. It felt like the sole constant in the blinding darkness of the room. Uncertainty plagued her life, would she succeed? Would she end up happy? What if this? What if that? She honestly admitted to this bubble of uncertainty, but even if she did not how tomorrow would be, she did know that Gintoki was warm, his arms were safe, and his heart was inviting. Yes, she knew he would be besides her tomorrow and for now Tsukuyo could not ask for anymore. "Yes, kindred souls, that's what we are."

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**I feel as though my chapters are very Tsukuyo centric, answer yay or nay for more Gintoki POV. Also, I just wanted to say that its completely okay for children to not completely love their parents. Tsukuyo holds a lot of resentment towards her parents even though they raised her with love, I would honestly just boil it down to family dynamics being difficult. Hmm, I am not too sure if I express this part clearly. Let me know guys! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and stay tune for the next chapter!**


	13. Hijikata's Side Chapter

**I want to apologize for two things off the bat, one, I am sorry I was a lazy bum and didn't get this updated sooner, and two, I am extremely sorry to those die-hard Hijikata fans out there that will feel insulted by my interruption of his character. With that said, I would like to repeat, this is my interpretation of his character and I do realize he is OOC. I tried to breath some life into him, whether my efforts were fruitful or not, you as the readers decide. I hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

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On a scale of one to how many damns he gave about the well being of the world, Hijikata would gingerly answer he didn't give two fucks. Call him a hypocrite, call him a walking contradiction, even scream profanities in his face, nothing would change his view point, the man would stare passively and move on. The criminal justice field lost its allure long ago. Hijikata used to care, he used to want to change the world, he wanted to be that man others could call a hero but the weight of the world tends to break the weak willed. When had he degraded into such a deplorable being? As an adolescent he dreamed big, perhaps too big. Justice was absolute, justice would prevail. But then Hijikata saw firsthand the corruption of the system. How could there but justice when the system meant to uphold it was beyond repair? The system was the root of the problem. Politicians accepting money for personal gain, the rich buying their around the law, and all those who abused the rules meant to uphold peace. It disgusted him, every one of their hearts were black as night, and there was nary a thing he could do. That was what it meant to feel powerless, and that feeling is soul crushing. All that Hijikata strived for was an illusion, peace did not exist, and certainly neither did justice. Slowly the glamour of the job was lost. He became a jaded old man, weary of everything. It only continued going south from there. He firstly let her go, the love of his life, the only true good in a world dyed black. He could not stain her with his sins, no, the light that was Mitsuba could never be tainted like he him. She deserved better, so he let go. A broken heart could be fixed, a broken heart would heal with time, or so he thought.

And now here Hijikata sits, all alone in his apartment on a Tuesday night with a full bottle of sake and an ashtray brimming to the top with cigarette butts. He has work tomorrow but he thinks of calling in for the first time in five years. Today is special. Today is her 5th year death anniversary. He clutches a photo of them, arms wrapped around each and smiling as though life could not be any better. An ache surges through him as he thinks of the soft lines of her jaw, of the twinkle in her eyes whenever she become excited, and he always ends with the imagine of her smile, so warm and bright, like the sun blessing him with its rays. A tear falls, then two and it soon becomes never ending. Hijikata only has one regret and it was not being able to say goodbye. So this is his punishment, to forever suffer in her memory. Leaning back against the wall, Hijikata took a long swig of the sake. He accepts the punishment without complaint. If the heavens wanted to curse him then so be it. All that mattered in his life was gone. Mitsuba was gone, his passion was gone, everything. Hijikata was a hollow husk living the days in a blur. He suddenly began humming, it was a song she loved, those were the only songs he ever remembered. Another tear falls and he lifts the cup of sake again, allowing the liquor to burn the back of his throat. _Let the alcohol wash way the pain, even if for a moment_, he prays. Then the chiming of his cellphone pierces the silence of the night. Hijikata groggily searches for his phone, somewhere lost in the clutter of the small tatami clad room. He forwent cleanliness years ago. It had been Mitsuba who constantly reminded him to fold his clothes, to clean the dish, to dust the pesky corners. Everything reminded him of her. He remembers the way she sat, back straight and hands politely folded. She was always too formal for her own good, but he loved that about her. He clutches his chest, the pain of his aching heart was crippling. Hijikata reaches again for the sake, having forgotten the ringing phone. Growing irritated by the noise, Hijikata rummages through layers of clothing until he finds the discarded phone. While he does not recognize the number, he still answers anyway if only to stop the ringing. It better not be Gintoki prank calling him.

"Hello?" he says as clearly as his half drunken state allows.

" Toshiro? Is that you?" asks a female voice, mature, most likely belonging to someone much older.

"…." Hijikata remains silent, pondering who this familiar voice could be, " Grandmother?" Yes, Umeko Hijikata, that was the owner of the voice.

" Oh my! You do remember!" her voice now an octave higher." It's so good to hear from you Toshiro, it's been five years since I last saw you." Its been five years since I a lot of things happened, he wanted to say that to his grandmother and yet the words cannot leave his mouth. Instead Hijikata remains silent. His mind begins sobering up, something was amiss. He hadn't heard from his grandmother in years, partly due to his own reluctance to reach out, but nevertheless, why was she calling now?

"Is there something wrong, Grandmother? Are you alright?"

"Yes!Yes!" she assures him." I'm quite alright. But there's something I want to talk to you about. Or rather I want to talk to the whole family about. I know you are busy with your job but please come by your uncle's house this Saturday. It's very important." Umeko places an unsubtle emphasis on the last sentence.

Hijikata had agreed to cover for someone this Saturday, or rather everyone at the place department knew to ask him first when looking for a replacement. He lived for overtime as the Chief would kid. "This Saturday is a bit….." he began but she quickly interrupted.

"Please, Toshiro. Please come. I want as many people there as possible. Please." She said again, the urgency in her voice growing.

Hijikata silently sighed but he nonetheless agreed. He would show up to this "family gathering" of sorts, if only to appease his grandmother. One day off from work would not change his life.

* * *

Hijikata had expected a crowd, the Hijikata clan was well known for being large in number. While his immediate family, his mother and father, had died long ago, his extended family somehow seemed to bred like rabbits. A second cousin, he thinks her name is Hana, sat on the sofa and a first cousin once removed, Daichi perhaps, sat by the window. He didn't recognize a quarter of the faces nor did he care to. He always felt claustrophobic at these family gathering and made it a point to try and attend as few as possible. No one would care anyways. Perhaps his Grandmother would be upset but then again Hijikata could simply visit her personally. These people may be related to him by blood but he felt no familial ties to these strangers. And so Hijikata stood by himself in a corner of the house, the houseplant his only company, rather good company he had to admit.

He saw his grandmother, the tiny old thing, back hunched and a face wrinkled from years of smiling, still looked as chipper as ever. He couldn't but help smile at the woman who raised him after the passing of his parents. Bless her soul, she was the saving grace of this otherwise dislikable family. The buzzing of side conversations soon died down as all the attendees looked to the matriarch. They had all gathered for a reason, it had better been a damn good one.

" I know you are all busy," Umeko began, her smile as infectious as ever. " with children, jobs and just life. But I want to call upon a favor, the biggest favor I have ever asked of anyone in my entire lifetime."

The room feel into a tense silence, everyone looking on at the matriarch with trepidation. She cleared her voice and began speaking again." As you may know, my oldest grandson and his wife, Kei and Haruka, tragically passed away three years ago, leaving their then two-year-old daughter, Hikari, an orphan. I bought it upon myself to raise her as I have so many of you." Hijikata winced at what his grandmother was implying. It was deja vu all over again. "And as rambunctious as I may seem," she said with a chuckle, "this old woman is not immune to the passing of time. I will be 91 soon and I sadly cannot keep up with such a young child anymore. I also recently had a minor fall." Gasping and words of worry soon filled the room. She quickly silenced everyone. " Don't make a fuss now, everyone. The doctors said I would make a speedy recovery. But they also said it is unadvisable for someone my age to continue taking care of such a young child." She was beginning to choke up. " I love Hikari dearly and would be terribly sad to part from her but I think it would be for the best. That is why I called all of you together. Please, Hikari needs love now more than ever." Her plead was met with avoided glances and a silence from a formerly rowdy crowd. A thick layer of tension now hung in the air. No one wanted to upset the matriarch but no one was willing to take a child into their homes either. Everyone had their own worries, and the burden of a child from some distant relative was not a hurdle they could handle. And so the silence dragged on. Hijikata was fuming. This reminded him of his youth, of the scenario when his parents had died. There had been talk about sending him to live with his uncle, his father's oldest brother, but excuse after excuse was made on his uncle's part. They didn't want him, how much clear could the message be? No one wanted him. He was a pathetic, unwanted orphan. His grandmother thought otherwise though, and so she took him under her wing and raise him. If it wasn't for her then he would probably had run away from the random home his relatives stuck him in. And now the exact same situation was transpiring before him. Hijikata wanted to punch a wall. This was the same frustration he felt towards the justice system, but this time he had the power to change the end result.

"I'll take her in." He said after what seemed like an eternity of the others fidgeting and not making eye contact with one another. His grandmother smiled knowingly and opened her arms for his embrace.

* * *

Coincidentally, or perhaps brilliantly planned, Hikari had been out of the house during the meeting. Umeko had allowed Hikari play over at a friend's house for the better half of the morning.

"A child does not need to see or hear the problems of the adult world." She said to Hijikata as the others filed out the door, " Would you like to pick her up with me?"

Hijikata nodded, his mind still in a state of shock. He was still sorting out the logistics of what he agreed to minutes prior. Had he really agreed to foster the five-year-old child of his deceased cousin? Hijikata did not know what this meant for his current lifestyle but it was evident that it would change. He followed his grandmother a few blocks from the house and waited outside a cozy single family home as she went in to pick up Hikari.

All doubt left Hijikata's mind once he laid eyes on the child. She was precious. Her ebony hair was tied up in two little pigtails with a pink ribbon and she wore polka-dotted leggings under her yellow dress. He then thought of Mitsuba. If they had stayed together, if she had never gotten sick, then would their child had looked like the one before him now?

Hikari hid slightly behind the elder woman, looking up for her approval on the stranger. Umeko laughed. "Come now child. No need to be afraid. This is your father's cousin, Toshiro. He is your uncle."

"My uncle?" Hikari repeated in the tiniest of voices.

"Yes, your uncle." She pushed the child forward a bit. " Come look at his face clearly. Toshiro is not as scary as he seems. He just needs to smile a bit more, right Toshiro?"

Hijikata's stoic face feebly tried to form a smile. " If that's what you want, Grandmother." Hijikata really tried to smile warmly but he honestly thought he scared the child. Gintoki was the better one at being friend. Damn that sugar freak and his ability to smile on command!

Hikari's stared at Hijikata, her little brain formulating an opinion. " See? He's not that scary at all, Hikari." Umeko said.

"Toshi is grumpy! He has wrinkles on his head like grandma!" she chimed after losing her initial apprehensiveness. Hijikata normally would be offended if anyone other than Kondo, if only because he had been doing for so long, called him Toshi, and Hijikata would have decapitated anyone who said he was grumpy or that he had wrinkles, but this little girl was too precious. For the first time in years his anger was not invoked after an offensive remark, it even surprised Hijikata himself. It had been less than 10 minutes and Hijikata already had a soft spot for Hikari.

"Now listen, Hikari, grandma is going away for a little bit. She's going to visit some people she hasn't seen in a long time. You will be staying with Toshiro until then, do you understand?" The child nodded, her pigtails bobbing with the motion of her head. " I'll drop her off tomorrow morning, Toshiro, is that okay?"

"Perfect." Hijikata said as a delayed sense of nervousness overcame him. Waving goodbye to his grandmother and his new ward, a uncomfortable sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach began to grow. What if he couldn't raise her properly? What if he was a terrible influence on her? He could not deny his chain smoking habit, one that Mitsuba repeated tried to break, or his newly acquired drinking habit. Fuck. The life of a smoking, drinking, and disorganized loner was hardly the ideal home for a five-year-old child. Add in workaholic while we're at it.

Hijikata hopped on the next train home. It was a bit early for spring cleaning but right now his apartment required a much needed clean. But before that, Hijikata rid himself of his biggest temptation. Before boarding the train, he chucked his lighter and cigarettes into the nearest waste bin. Without a second glance back Hijikata stepped through the doors of the train, found a vacant seat and prepared for the ride inbound, towards home.

* * *

What did children like? Correction, what did five-year-old girls who recently lost their parents like? Too specific? The gears of Hijikata's mind turned and turned, fruitlessly trying to think of accommodations for a child. At a loss for exactly what he should purchase, Hijikata made the only logical decision, buy everything. Cute pastel pink and blue dishware, a new futon specifically for Hikari, and a stuff pinked alpaca because why not, sat in the middle of his currently vacant living room. The apartment looked impeccable. All trash had been properly disposed of, every nook and cranny had been dusted, and for good measure Hijikata had thrown out everything that could potentially be dangerous to a child. As the raven haired man observed the home he lived in for the past eight years, a pang of both sadness and joy hit him. The apartment finally resembled its former glory, when Mitsuba used to live with him. He strained a smile. He was happy that he swept out the bad. He lived wallowing in the misery of Mitsuba's death for far too long. The exact pillow and sheets she had used before living had sat in the closet untouched, somehow as if she would resurrect from the dead and come back to him. They had been the last to go but somehow Hijikata found the will power to throw them away. And now he continued staring at the space, memories flooding through him. How could the image be the same and yet so different? Hijikata quickly pushed opened a window, allowing a brisk breeze to ventilate the living room. Maybe he should consider getting a new place, this apartment was awfully small for an adult and a child. Someone once told him that to make room for the future there had to be space. There certainly was no space in this current apartment for the future to settle in. It would be good for him. It would be good for both of them. Hikari did not need to live in a home that caused such sorrow. Things would be different, even if it was too late for him it was only the beginning for Hikari. A new beginning for the both of them.

* * *

**I felt extremely bad that I was not able to give Hijikata the happy-ever-after he deserves because goddamn it he deserved a happy ending in the manga! And then I thought well, for a man who currently has nothing to live for, which, lets be honest, he doesn't, lets give him one. I personally think Hijikata and Mitsuba's story is beautiful, its a poignant romance filled with tragedy yet is still beautiful in the way that only cruel and unjust love can convey. He loved her so much and he still does, the world itself is a reminder that he is here and she is not. Guys, I'm about to cry. The only thing Hijikata wants is to be with Mitsuba but that's also the one thing he can never do. So now his life is meaningless. With the introduction of Hikari I want so that Hijikata can move on with his life. Its hard to forget death but you must move one, and Hikari is that impetus. Don't worry guys, I did not forget our main duo couple. The next chapter will have plenty of them. The chapter is about 1/2 written so expect it next week or the week after. Long rant over! I really hoped you guys enjoyed this side chapter and thanks to everyone who has read this and reviewed. I greatly appreciate every review and every favorite and every follow! **


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